KuPS 1-1 Universitatea Craiova
Defeat to Sabah Baku in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) qualifiers had demoted KuPS to the UEL, while Universitatea Craiova's loss to Levski Sofia had seen them enter this round via the same method.
It seemed the home side had put their UCL disappointment behind them after just five minutes when Bob Armah found the net, only to be denied by the offside flag. But from then on, the away side took control.
Either side of the 30-minute mark, Stefan Baiaram and Anzor Mekvabishvili both brought the best out of Hemmo Riihimaki, before Baiaram finally got the better of the KuPS goalkeeper in the 38th minute, getting on the end of a fine Adrian Rus cross and guiding the ball in off the post.
Credit to the Finnish champions, the came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and maintained the pressure - Jaime Moreno went close with the best early chance but was thwarted by Laurentiu Popescu, though the Nicaraguan's perserverance was rewarded inside the final 20 minutes.
Moreno climbed highest at the near post to send Tommi Jyry's corner flying past Popescu with his head to draw the Kuopio side level.
KuPS came under pressure late on, but Riihimaki was alert to efforts from a couple of efforts from Teles to ensure his side will travel to Romania for the return fixture on 13th August with the scores level.