Manchester City have been drawn against Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League play-off round. Pep Guardiola’s side will start with a trip away to Romania on 16 or 17 August before returning to host the 1985-86 European Cup winners in Manchester on the 23 or 24 August.
City finished fourth in the Premier League and so must earn their place in the group stages, with Guardiola hoping to better the club’s run to the semi-finals of the competition last season under Manuel Pellegrini. “It’s going to be a difficult tie because Steaua are on the up again in Europe and have a lot of talent,” said the City sporting director Txiki Begiristain.
Meanwhile, Celtic will play the Israeli club Hapoel Beer Sheva after overcoming the Kazakh outfit Astana in the third qualifying round.
Dundalk, who are aiming to become the first team from the Republic of Ireland to reach the group stage, will face the Polish team Legia Warsaw, while Porto will face Roma. The finalised dates of the two-legged ties are to be confirmed.
In the Europa League, West Ham have been drawn to play Astra Giurgiu in the play-off round. The Romanian champions will need no introduction to West Ham after they knocked out Slaven Bilic’s side in the competition last season.
If West Ham can navigate a way past Astra over two legs this time around, they will join Manchester United and Southampton in the group stages. The first leg will take place on 18 August before West Ham host Astra at the Olympic Stadium a week later.
The full Uefa Champions League play-off draw is as follows:
Ludogorets v Plzen
Celtic v Hapoel Beer Sheva
FC Copenhagen v Apoel Nicosia
Dundalk v Legia Warsaw
Dinamo Zagreb v Red Bull Salzburg
Steaua Bucharest v Manchester City
FC Porto v Roma
Ajax v FC Rostov
Young Boys v Borussia Mönchengladbach
Villarreal v Monaco
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