Scottish clubs discover potential European opponents

Rangers will face Salzburg or Twente in the Champions League play-off if they overcome Dynamo Kyiv.

Hearts will take on Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih or Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League play-off.

And in the Conference League play-off, Kilmarnock will face Copenhagen or Banik Ostrava should they beat Tromso, while St Mirren will meet Corvinul Hunedoara or Astana if they defeat Brann.

Dynamo and Rangers meet for the first leg of their third qualifying tie on Tuesday in Lublin, Poland, where the Kyiv side are playing due to the Ukraine war. The return game will be at Hampden, with Ibrox currently unavailable amid renovation work.

Austrian Bundesliga runners-up Salzburg host Dutch outfit Twente, who were third in last season’s Eredivisie, in Tuesday’s first leg, with their return match also next Tuesday.

Rangers, who would be the home team for the first leg on 21 or 22 August, recently sold Sam Lammers to Twente and bought Robin Propper from the same club. The second leg would take place the following midweek.

The draw for the revamped Champions League proper, which will feature Scottish Premiership winners Celtic, takes place on 29 August, with the first of eight rounds of fixtures in mid-September.

Hearts will be away from home first on 22 August against Ukraine’s Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, who are playing their home ties in Slovakia, or Czech side Viktoria Plzen. The return leg at Tynecastle will be seven days later.

Like the Edinburgh side, both of the potential opponents finished third in their domestic league last term and Plzen were runners-up in the Czech Cup. They play each other over the next two Thursdays, with the second leg in Plzen.

A win takes Hearts through to the league phase, lose and they will enter the Conference League group stage.

Kilmarnock’s possible opponents Copenhagen were third in the Danish Superliga and Czechs Banik Ostrava were fourth in their division. Copenhagen host Banik on Wednesday and visit Ostrava the following Thursday. The Ayrshire side would be away from home in the first leg.

St Mirren’s potential match-up Corvinul Hunedoara won the Cupa Romaniei last season and play in the Romanian second tier, while Astana were runners-up in Kazakhstan’s top division. The sides meet over the next two Thursdays and the Buddies would be at home first if they progress.

Kilmarnock and St Mirren both play the home legs of their third qualifying round ties on Thursday, with the return legs the following Thursday in Norway.

Killie lost 2-1 on aggregate to Belgium’s Cercle Bruges to drop into the Conference League while St Mirren beat Iceland’s Valur 4-1 on aggregate to reach the last round before the group stage.

All Europa and Conference play-off ties would be played over the final two Thursdays in August.

The draws for the league phase of the Europa League, of which there will be eight rounds of fixtures, and the Conference League group phase, which has six match nights, will be on 30 August.

The Europa league phase starts on the final midweek of September with the Conference group stage commencing in early October.