Motherwell join seeds for Europa draw

Motherwell have joined Aberdeen and Rangers among the seeded teams in the Europa League second qualifying round thanks to Coleraine’s shock win over Maribor.

Wel l move d i n t o t h e second round with a 5- 1 victor y over ten- man Glentoran at Fir Park with Aberdeen progressing thanks to a 6- 0 triumph against NSI of the Faroe Islands.

The Lanarkshire s i de squeezed into the seeds after Maribor, who have knocked Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibernian out of Europe in the past decade, lost on penalties at home against Oran Kearney’s side following a 1- 1 draw in Slovenia.

That means Motherwell cannot be paired with the l i kes of Tottenham, AC Milan, Basel, Galatasaray and Wolfsburg i n Monday’s draw.

With t he f i rst qualifying- round draw split into regional groups, Motherwell and Aberdeen could find themselves up against t he l i ke s o f Col e r a i ne , Welsh side Bala Town and Shamrock Rovers.

T h e u n s e e d e d t e a ms also include B36 Torshavn of the Faroes and Scandinavian sides IFK Gothenburg, Hammarby, Viking Stavanger and Bodo/ Glimt.

Celtic will join the competition at the third qualifying round following their Champions League exit against Ferencvaros.

A b e r d e e n m a n a g e r D e r e k M c I n n e s s a i d : “Another home tie would be perfect for us. It is cup football over 90 minutes, it brings a bit more trepidation but also excitement.”