Cup first qualifying round, a rather impressive achievement given the number of departures the team had to overcome in the season. The team rounded off the season with a fantastic 4–0 victory over newly crowned champions Valletta, with goals for the day coming from Jamie Pace, Stephen Wellman (x2) and Aleksandar Madžar. 2008–09 season Following the club's second-place finish during the 2007/08 season, they were seeded for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The draw was made on 1 July 2008, in which Marsaxlokk were drawn against Croatian outfit Slaven Belupo, who also finished second in their respective league last season. On the transfer front long serving defender Charlo Magro announced his retirement, after five seasons with the club. André Schembri completed a season long loan at German outfit Eintracht Braunschweig, and will return to Germany for the current season, after joining Carl Zeiss Jena on another season long loan. Also departing are the influential midfield duo of Jamie Pace and Cleavon Frendo, who both signed with league champions Valletta, along with Montenegro striker Aleksandar Madžar who wasn't retained, and later went on to join Floriana. Young midfielder Gordon Mizzi will spend the season on loan with Maltese Third Division side Gzira United, in order to gain some valuable first team experience. Joining the club was Valletta goalkeeper Saviour Darmanin, Replacing Aleksandar Madžar as the club's third foreign player is Marcelo Pereira, who played the previous season for relegated Mqabba, and finished in second place in the league's goalscoring charts, with an impressive 14 goals. Last season's top goalscorer Julio Alcorsé and fellow striker Mark Barbara had their loan moves from Hibernians and Valletta respectively, extended for a further season. On 8 July 2008, Marsaxlokk strengthened their squad further with the signings of midfielder Christian Cassar, who joined on a five-year contract from Floriana and defender Clive Brincat from St. George's, although the latter had spent last season on loan with Msida Saint-Joseph. The club also confirmed the signing of Malta vice captain and defender Brian Said from Sliema Wanderers along with fellow defender Arnold Buttigieg from St. Patrick the following day. However, goalkeeper Reuben Gauci and defender Shawn Tellus departed, both players signed season long loan deals with newly promoted side Qormi. On 20 August 2008, Marsaxlokk rounded up their summer of new signings, with the capture of Malta international Claude Mattocks, who had fallen out of