The draws for the play-off round of UEFA club competitions took place on Monday, 2 August. The 2021/22 season will feature three concurrent European club competitions for the first time since 1998/99, with the introduction of a third-tier competition, the UEFA Europa Conference League.
UEFA Draws for All Three Competitions
Rangers Set for Champions League Qualifying
Scottish Premiership winners Rangers are set to begin their campaign in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League qualifying. Steven Gerrard’s side enter at the third qualifying round stage, where they will face Swedish champions Malmo. The winner of the tie will face either Olympiacos or Ludogorets Razgrad. A loss, meanwhile, will mean a drop down into to Europa League qualifying, where Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty or Armenia’s Alashkert await.
Austrian champions RB Salzburg take on Brøndby in the play-off round. In the league path, Monaco play against Slavia Prague for a place in the play-off round, where they could face one of Belgium’s Genk and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk. PSV Eindhoven take on Danish side Midtjylland for a place in the play-offs against Benfica or Spartak Moscow.
Celtic Drop Down to Europa League
Celtic’s poor start to the new season saw them crash out of Champions League qualifying. They lost to Midtjylland in the second qualifying round, and will now face Czech side Jablonec in Europa League qualifying. If they win that tie, Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar await in the play-off round. Celtic’s fellow Scottish side St. Johnstone face a tough tie against Galatasaray. The winners will face Denmark’s Randers in the play-offs.
Meanwhile, the losers of the Olympiacos v Ludogorets Champions League qualifying game will have to face either Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps or Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava to make the Europa League play-off round. Turkish side Fenerbahce are already in the play-off, where they will face Neftçi or HJK Helsinki.
Spurs Set for UEFA Conference League
Tottenham Hotspur are the Premier League’s maiden entrants into the Europa Conference League, which does not have direct qualification. Instead, all teams enter into the qualifying stage, with the likes of Tottenham and Union Berlin going straight to the play-offs. Tottenham will face the winners of the game between Northern Irish side Larne and Portugal’s Pacos de Ferreira. Ireland’s Shamrock Rovers face Albanian side Teuta, with the prize being a play-off against the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Cyprus’ Omonia and Estonian side Flora Tallinn.
Another Northern Irish side, Linfield, will play against Luxembourg’s entrants Fola Esch. The winners of the tie will take on the losers of the Europa League qualifier between Kairat Almaty and Alashkert. If Celtic lose their Europa League qualifier against Jablonec, they will drop down to the Conference play-offs, where they will have to overcome either MŠK Žilina or Tobol Kostanay. Aberdeen will face Iceland’s Breidablik, while Qarabag or AEL Limassol will await in the play-off.
Ireland’s Dundalk face Dutch side Vitesse, and the winner of the tie will take on Laç of Albania or Anderlecht. If St. Johnstone lose to Galatasaray in the Europa League, they will face Vojvodina or LASK in the Conference play-offs. An Irish-Scottish play-off tie is possible, with Bohemians and Hibernian vying for a play-off spot. PAOK stand in Bohemians’ way, while Hibernian must overcome HNK Rijeka. Union Berlin will face either Kuopio or Astana in their first European outing since 2001/02. Roma will face Trabzonspor or Molde, while Stade Rennais face Rosenborg or Domžale.
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