Celtic have discovered their opponents for the Champions League play-off round, with Martin O'Neill's side set to face Austrian champions LASK for a place in the group stage.
The Glasgow club were pulled out first in the draw against the Linz-based outfit, meaning they will avoid a repeat meeting with Kairat Almaty, the Kazakh side who eliminated Celtic on penalties at this same stage last season after 210 goalless minutes across two legs and extra time.
The first leg of the tie against LASK is scheduled for 18 or 19 August, with the return fixture to follow a week later.
LASK arrive in Scotland on the back of a remarkable domestic campaign, having claimed the Austrian Bundesliga title for only the second time in their history, finishing two points clear of defending champions Sturm Graz. The Linz side also lifted the Austrian Cup, completing a domestic double and taking their tally of major honours to four. Notably, their only previous double-winning season came 61 years earlier, adding to the sense of history surrounding last term's success.
Head coach Didi Kuhbauer reflected on the scale of the achievement after his side sealed the title, saying: "If someone had told us this seven months ago, we would have thought they were crazy." The club themselves labelled the campaign a "fairytale" run.
Despite their domestic dominance, LASK's European pedigree is more mixed. Prior to becoming regular participants in Uefa competitions from 2018 onwards, they had won just two European ties in sporadic appearances. Since then they reached the last 16 of the Europa League in 2020 and progressed to the same stage of the Conference League two years later, a run that included a 3-1 aggregate victory over Scottish side St Johnstone in the play-offs. However, more recent form has been underwhelming, with LASK winning only one of their last 14 European fixtures and finishing 35th in last season's Conference League. Among their summer recruits is defender Miguel Freckleton, who joined after a single season with St Mirren in Paisley.
Elsewhere in Scottish football's European involvement, Rangers know a trip to Northern Ireland could await them in the Europa League play-offs, with Larne set to be their potential opponents should both clubs progress through the previous round. Rangers must first overcome Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok, while Larne face Georgian champions Iberia Tbilisi in the third qualifying round. Larne, who have won three of the last four Irish Premiership titles, boast a squad featuring Scots Rohan Ferguson, the former Airdrie goalkeeper, and striker Kevin O'Hara, who recently moved from Hamilton.
Hearts also learned their potential path forward, with a victory over Portuguese giants Benfica setting up a clash against the loser of the Champions League tie between Danish champions Aarhus and Azerbaijan's Sabah.
Meanwhile, in the Republic of Ireland, Shamrock Rovers would face Norwegian side Lillestrom in the Europa League play-offs should they get past Albanian outfit Egnatia in their current qualifying tie.
The coming weeks promise a busy period of European action for clubs across Scotland and Ireland as they battle for lucrative group-stage football.
Based on reporting from The Independent.