Villa and Ajax learn European fates as play-off draws made

Ajax will face either Astana of Kazakhstan or Ludogorets of Bulgaria as they kick off their Europa League campaign later in August.

The Dutch giants missed out on a place in the Champions League last season and will have to endure a long and gruelling journey in Europe's secondary competition if they are to make the final in Dublin next year.

Maurice Steijn's side won the Europa League in 1992 but have not started the season in the tournament since 2009.

Premier League pair Liverpool and Brighton will not feature until the group stages alongside Europa Conference League winners West Ham and several other teams from Europe's top leagues.

Meanwhile, Greek champions AEK Athens will have to overcome Dinamo Zagreb to set up a play-off round tie with Copenhagen or Sparta Prague.

Scottish side Aberdeen will also feature and they await the winner of Zalgiris Vilnius vs Hacken.

Europa League play-off draw

Slavia Prague or Dnipro-1 vs Zorya Luhansk

Olympiacos or Genk vs Cukaricki

Astana or Ludogorets vs Ajax

Zalgiris Vilnius or Hacken vs Aberdeen

LASK vs or Zrinjski or Breidablik

Union SG vs Lugano

Klaksvik or Molde vs Sheriff or BATE Borisov

Olimpija Ljubljana or Galatasaray vs Qarabag or Helsinki

Slovan Bratislava or Maccabi Haifa vs Rakow or Aris Limassol

AEK Athens or Dinamo Zagreb vs Copenhagen or Sparta Prague

Europa Conference League

Two draws were also made Conference League, one for the champions path and one for the main path.

The former will see teams who lose their Europa League play-off matches enter the fray and compete for a place in the Conference League group stages.

Every other team will compete in the main path, including Unai Emery's Aston Villa, who will face the winner of Hibernian vs Luzern.

Eintracht Frankfurt will face Hapoel Beer Sheva or Levski Sofia, while Serie A side Fiorentina await the outcome of Rapid Wien vs Debreceni.

Europa Conference League play-off draw

Champions path

Lincoln Red Imps or Ballkani vs loser of Sheriff vs BATE Borisov

Loser of Zalgiris vs Hacken vs Ferencvaros or Hamrun 

Swift Hesperange or Struga vs loser of Zrinjski Mostar vs Breidablik

Flora Tallinn or Farul Constanta vs loser of Qarabag vs Helsinki

Loser of Ludogorets vs Astana vs Partizani Tirana or Valmiera

Main path

Hapoel Beer Sheva or Levski Sofia vs Frankfurt

Sepsi Gheorghe or Aktobe vs Bodo/Glimt or Pyunik Yerevan

Midtjylland or Omonia Nicosia vs Legia Warsaw or Austria Wien

Fenerbache or Maribor vs Twente or Riga

APOEL or Dila Gori vs Gent or Pogon Szczecin

Tobol or Derry City vs Viktoria Plzen or Gzira

Lille vs Rijeka or B36 Torshavn

Dynamo Kyiv or Aris vs Besiktas or Neftci Baku

Lech Poznan or Spartak Trnava vs loser of Slavia Pargue vs Dnipro-1

Hibernian or Luzern vs Aston Villa

Loser of Olympiacos vs Genk vs Osijek or Adana Demirspor

AZ Alkmaar or Santa Coloma vs Arouca or Brann

Rapid Wien or Debreceni vs Fiorentina

Rosenborg or Hearts vs PAOK or Hajduk Split

FCSB or Nordskaelland vs Partizan Belgrade or Sabah Baku

Osasuna vs Club Brugge or Akureyri

Maccabi Tel Aviv or AEK Larnaca vs Celje or Neman Grodno