Bashundhara Kings, the champions of the Bangladesh Premier League, will face Sharjah FC of the United Arab Emirates in the preliminary round of the AFC Champions League this year.
The match will take place on August 15, according to a press release from the Asian Football Confederation, which did not specify the time or location.
The draw means that the Bangladeshi team will face some of the European football players who have moved to Asian organizations over the past few years. Miralem Pjanic, Kostas Malolas, Paco Alcacer, and others on the star-studded Sharjah FC roster have played at the highest level of European club and international football for many years.
Bashundhara Kings will compete in the qualifying round of Asia’s premier club competition for the first time. They were assigned to the West Zone for the qualifying competition. However, they must first defeat Sharjah, and if they do so, they must then defeat Tractor FC of Iran the following week to qualify for the premier competition’s group stage.