Intense clashes in Europa League qualifiers
The draw for the preliminary round of the UEFA Europa League, held on Monday, produced tough matchups to determine who will advance to the league phase.
If Rangers of Scotland overcome Poland’s Jagiellonia Bialystok in the third qualifying round, they will face the winner of the match between Northern Ireland’s Linfield and Georgia’s Dila Gori in the playoff round. Meanwhile, the winner of the Benfica (Portugal) vs. Hearts (Scotland) tie will play the winner of the Aarhus (Denmark) vs. Sabail (Azerbaijan) fixture.
The draw also set up a clash between Turkey’s Trabzonspor and the winner of the Hungarian side Ferencváros versus Poland’s Górnik Zabrze. The winner of the match between Finland’s KuPS and Romania’s Universitatea Craiova will face the winner of the Armenia’s Ararat-Armenia vs. Slovenia’s Celje game.
Belgium’s St. Truiden will play the winner of the Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps vs. Cyprus’s Omonia tie. The winner of the Israel’s Hapoel Be’er Sheva vs. Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade match will take on the Czech Republic’s Viktoria Plzeň.
The winner of the Republic of Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers vs. Albania’s Egnatia fixture will face Norway’s Lillestrøm. The winner of the Sweden’s Malmö FF vs. Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava encounter will play the winner of the Cyprus’s Pafos vs. Austria’s Red Bull Salzburg match.
The winner of the Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia vs. Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty tie will face the winner of the Greece’s PAOK vs. Belgium’s Anderlecht fixture. Meanwhile, the winner of the Poland’s Lech Poznań vs. Faroe Islands’ KÍ Klaksvik match will play the winner of the Switzerland’s Thun vs. Iceland’s Víkingur Reykjavik game.
The draw also produced a matchup between the winner of the Czech Republic’s Hradec Králové vs. Turkey’s Beşiktaş and the winner of the Croatia’s Dinamo Zagreb vs. Lithuania’s Žalgiris Kaunas. Greece’s OFI Crete will face the winner of the Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia tie.
The two-legged playoff matches will be played on August 20 and 27, with the winners advancing to the league phase of the competition.
