Europa League draw:Shamrock Rovers have been drawn against FK Partizan from Belgrade in the Europa League playoff round draw in Nyon, Switzerland this afternoon.
The Dublin club who were knocked out of the Champions League qualification process by FC Copenhagen over two legs face an equally tough task against the Serbian club.
Partizan, played in the Champions League last season – the second time they qualified for that stage of the tournament in its current format – where they were grouped alongside Arsenal, Braga and Shaktar Donetsk. The Serbian club lost all six of their matches but in the last 11 years they have won seven domestic championships and four cups.
Rovers will host Partizan at Tallaght Stadium on August 18th with the second leg taking place in the Serbian capital seven days later. Elsewhere Celtic were drawn against Switzerland’s FC Sion, Rangers will travel to Slovenia to take on NK Maribor in the first leg while a third Scottish club Hearts have earned a money spinning tie against Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham and Hearts will go head-to-head for a place in the tournament proper. Harry Redknapp's men, in the competition after a successful foray into the Champions League last season, qualified for the play-offs automatically and will travel to Edinburgh on August 18th, with the return leg at White Hart Lane a week later.
Hearts, who booked their place in the play-offs with a 4-1 win over PAKS, are now under the management of Paulo Sergio, who took the job earlier this week following the shock exit of Jim Jefferies.
It will be the first ever competitive meeting between the two sides and, in drawing each other, they avoided tricky-looking ties against the likes of Spartak Moscow and Trabzonspor.
Hearts manager Paulo Sergio, who declared his passion for British football when he took on his role on Tuesday, was delighted.
"This is a very interesting draw for us, for sure," Sergio told Hearts News. "No matter who we were drawn against it was going to be a very difficult tie but it is a match which I am sure will capture the imagination. There is not much travelling involved for the supporters and of course there will be the Scotland-England rivalry as well."
Fulham's reward for getting past RNK Split with a comfortable 2-0 home win is a clash against Ukrainian outfit Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.
Martin Jol's side, who have been in action in the competition since qualifying started at the end of June, will play the first leg at the Dnipro Arena, before returning to Craven Cottage.
Scottish champions Rangers will look to put their Champions League disappointment behind them against Slovenian side Maribor.
Darko Milanic's team won the Slovenian title for a ninth time last season, while Rangers were surprise casualties from the Champions League when they went out to Malmo in a two-legged play-off.
Rangers manager Ally McCoist was satisfied with the draw.
The Scottish champions defeated Maribor 6-1 on aggregate in a Champions League qualifier in 2001.
McCoist said: "It's a good draw in terms of the place that we are going to. It's accessible and it's not the worst. They are a good team and I think they are still sitting at the top of their league. They will be a tough side. The club went there seven or eight years ago and got a favourable result over the two legs and we would be hoping for the same.
"It's a tough draw but it's a draw we are pleased with."
Rangers' Old Firm rivals Celtic will need to get the better of Swiss side FC Sion.
Managed by former France international Laurent Roussey, Sion lifted their 12th Swiss Cup last season, while Celtic finished runners-up to Rangers.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon is not expecting an easy tie.
"They are a good team, they have made a good start to the season, winning two out of three and as with all Swiss teams, they will be very fit, very athletic and technically very good," he said. "By the time we play them they might have six or seven games under their belt, hopefully we will have three or four by then.
"But it is a tough draw, there is no doubt about that."
Stoke are also facing a trip to Switzerland after being paired with FC Thun, with the first leg at Arena Thun.
Tony Pulis' men, making their first appearance in Europe after reaching the FA Cup final last season, while Thun finished fifth and are coached by the veteran Swiss Bernard Challandes.
Carling Cup winners Birmingham, who will compete despite their relegation to the Championship, will juggle their second-tier slog with a clash against Portuguese club Nacional.
They finished sixth in the Portuguese Liga last season, while Birmingham, who will head to Portugal for the first leg, have endured a summer of turbulence, with manager Alex McLeish and a number of key players moving on.
Atletico Madrid will begin their campaign against Vitoria.
The 2010 winners are set to host the first leg against the Portuguese Cup runners-up in the opening leg on August 18, with the return match scheduled for seven days later.
Primera Liga rivals Athletic Bilbao will travel to Turkish side Trabzonspor for the opening match of their play-off tie, while Sevilla face a tricky tie against Hannover.
Another Bundesliga club, Schalke, will make the trip north to Finnish champions HJK Helsinki.
Braga, runners-up to Portuguese rivals Porto in last season's Europa League final, were drawn against Swiss side Young Boys, Roma take on Slovan Bratislava, with Lazio entertaining Macedonian club Rabotnicki in the opening leg.
Two Eredivisie teams were also in the draw. PSV Eindhoven will face SV Ried over two legs while Aalesund are the opponents for AZ Alkmaar.
Ligue 1 big-spenders Paris St Germain were pitted against Olympiacos Volou, the Greek club who were relegated from the Super League after being implicated in the match-fixing scandal which recently hit the country.
Volou are currently appealing the decision.
Rennes will take on Crvena Zvezda, with Sochaux looking forward to a trip to Ukraine in the opening leg of their match agains Metalist Kharkiv.
The UEFA Europa League Play-Off Draw:
Maccabi Tel-Aviv v Panathinaikos
Atletico Madrid v Guimaraes
Shamrock Roversv Partizan Belgrade
FC Metalist Kharkiv v Sochaux
Besiktas v Alania Vladikavkaz
Rosenborg v AEK
Vorskla v Dinamo Bucuresti
Bursaspor v Anderlecht
Roma v Slovan Bratislava
Olympiacos Volou v PSG
Legia Warsaw v Spartak Moscow
Ekranas v Hapoel Tel-Aviv
PAOK v Karpaty Lviv
Trabzonspor v Athletic Bilbao
Hearts v Tottenham
Maribor v Rangers
Steaua Bucuresti v CSKA Sofia
FC Nordsjaelland v Sporting
Dnipro v Fulham
Lokomotiv Moscow v Spartak Trnava
Sion v Celtic
Slask Wroclaw v Rapid Bucuresti
Litex Lovetch v Dynamo Kiev
Lazio v Rabotnicki Kometal
Nacional v Birmingham
PSV v SV Ried
FC Thun v Stoke
Aalesund v AZ
Vaslui v Sparta Prague
Omonia Nicosia v SV Red Bull Salzburg
Zestafoni v Club Brugge
Hannover v Sevilla
HJK v Schalke 04
Dinamo Tbilisi v AEK Athens
Rennes v Crvena Zvezda
Gaz Metan v FK Austria Vienna
Braga v Young Boys
Standard Liege v Helsingborgs
Ties to be played August 18th and 25th.
