Villa draw Austrian side in Europa League play-off

Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa will face Austrian side Rapid Vienna in their Europa League play-off this month.

Villa will have to travel to Vienna for the first leg on Thursday, August 19, with the return at Villa Park a week later.

Aston Villa face Rapid Vienna – Austria’s most successful club with 32 championships.

The rivals met in the same round last season with Villa crashing out of the competition on away goals.

Roberto Mancini starts his first European campaign with the club with a trip to Romania to face FC Timisoara and a return a week later.

Big-spending Manchester City travel to Romania for the first leg of their play-off after being paired with Timisoara.

The Romanian minnows, established since 2002, finished fifth in their domestic league last season.

Roy Hodgson's Liverpool face a trip to Turkey. The Reds face Trabzonspor at Anfield first while Neil Lennon's Celtic will host Dutch side FC Utrecht on the same day with the second leg in Holland on August 26.

Trabzonspor won the Turkish cup last season but have not claimed the league title since 1984.

Welsh outfit TNS also travel for their first leg, heading to Bulgaria to meet CSKA Sofia.

The play-off is the final hurdle before qualifying for the group stage, with today’s draw involving 74 clubs.

SELECTED EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF ROUND TIES:

Celtic v FC Utrecht (NED)

Liverpool v Trabzonspor (TUR)

Dundee Utd v AEK Athens (GRE)

Rapid Vienna (AUT) v Aston Villa

Odense BK (POL) v Motherwell

FC Timisoara (ROU) v Man City