Manchester City have been drawn against Steaua Bucharest in the play-off round of Champions League qualifying.
Pep Guardiola takes his side to the 1986 winners on August 16 or 17, with the return at the Etihad Stadium the following week.
Celtic, who booked their place in the draw following a narrow win over Astana, have been paired with Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva, while Dundalk's reward for their stunning victory over BATE Borisov is a trip to Poland to face Legia Warsaw.
The League of Ireland champions, the team with the lowest coefficient in the draw, will move their home leg from their 4,500-capacity Oriel Park to the 51,700-seater Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Reflecting on the draw against Steaua, who finished second in Romania Liga 1 last season behind Astra Giurgiu, City sporting director Txiki Begiristain said: "It is going to be a difficult tie.
"Steaua Bucharest are on the up again in Europe and have a lot of talent in their team."
The 10 play-off winners will join 22 automatic entrants in the group stage, which will include English champions Leicester for the first time.
Champions route:
Ludogorets v Viktoria Plzen
Celtic v Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Copenhagen v Apoel FC
Dundalk v Legia Warsaw
Dynamo Zagreb v Salzburg
League route:
Steaua Bucharest v Manchester City
Porto v Roma
Ajax v Rostov
Young Boys v Borussia Monchengladbach
Villarreal v Monaco
No comments:
Post a Comment