Larne draw Latvian opposition in Champions League

Irish Premiership winners Larne will face Latvian side FC RFS in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.

Tiernan Lynch's side will travel to Riga for the first-leg on 9/10 July before hosting the return fixture on either 16 July or 17 July.

After playing their European fixtures at Solitude last season, Larne will be able to use Inver Park in this year's continental competitions.

RFS will be familiar to fans of the Irish League after beating Linfield on penalties in a dramatic Europa Conference League play-off at Windsor Park two years ago.

Larne could have been paired with League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers, but Stephen Bradley's side were instead drawn against Vikingur Reykjavik of Iceland.

The back-to-back Irish Premiership champions received a boost after the draw when their tie was picked as one of two where the losers will go directly into the third rather than second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.

Linfield and Crusaders will find out their opposition in the Europa Conference League first qualifying round later on Tuesday with the draw for the second round, which will feature Irish Cup winners Cliftonville, to come on Wednesday.