Scottish clubs in Europe: Who are they facing and what to expect

Celtic are in UEFA Champions League qualifying action this week, while Rangers, Hearts, Motherwell and Hibernian will be vying to book their place in the UEFA Conference League.

The Hoops will be in first-leg action on Wednesday, with the four other Scottish representatives taking to the pitch on Thursday as they enter play-off action both home and abroad.

Here, STV Sport tells you everything you need to know about the Scottish sides’ European opponents.

Celtic v LASK: All you need to know

Celtic are armed with the task of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League one year after the club famously crashed out at the play-off stage to Kairat Almaty.

The Hoops suffered a 3-2 penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of the Kazakhstan side in August last year after failing to score in 210 minutes of football across two legs under former boss Brendan Rodgers.

Martin O’Neill is charged with leading the Scottish champions into the league phase of the competition this time with the first leg at home, before travelling to the Raiffeisen Arena for the second leg on August 25.

LASK, who qualified for the Champions League play-off round after winning the Austrian Bundesliga for the second time in their history last term, will go into the first leg in Glasgow on Thursday off the back of seven straight league victories, including last season, after a 4-1 derby win over local rivals SV Reid on Friday.

Celtic will come up against a familiar face in former St Mirren defender Miguel Freckleton, who joined the Austrian club in the summer. The Englishman was part of the Saints side who defeated the Hoops in last season’s League Cup Final.

Celtic will be without midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for both legs of the tie as he serves a suspension dating back to his stint at Besiktas in 2023.

LASK have never made it beyond the qualifiers for the Champions League, with their most notable European run coming in 1996 in the form of the semi-final of the now defunct Intertoto Cup.

The draw for the UEFA Champions League league phase will take place on August 27th, with the fixtures scheduled to begin on September 8th.

Rangers v Jablonec: All you need to know

Derek McInnes will be bidding to put the disappointment of Rangers’ Europa League exit behind him when they welcome Czech side Jablonec to Ibrox on Thursday evening.

The Light Blues crashed out of the Europa League at the third qualifying round after suffering a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Polish side Jagiellonia Białystok.

However, the Ibrox club will go into Thursday’s UEFA Conference League play-off first leg having claimed their first win of the season at the weekend in the Premier Sports Cup with a 5-1 thrashing of holders St Mirren.

Jablonec, who qualified for the play-off round after a 4-1 aggregate win over RFS in the third round, will have no distractions as they take on former Europa League finalists Rangers, with their request to postpone their League clash against Banik Ostrava, scheduled for August 23, granted by the League Football Association.

Rangers will also go into the game without domestic business on their mind after the club opted to shelve their Scottish Premiership clash against St Mirren in preparation for the European ties.

The Czechs suffered a 3-0 defeat against Celtic in their last trip to Scotland five years ago. Veteran goalkeeper Jan Hanus, who is expected to line up against Rangers, was between the sticks that day.

Cameroonian winger Saidou Alioum has added some firepower to the Czech line-up, but Rangers won’t have to contend with the former IFK Gothenburg attacker due to him being ineligible, having already played in the Europa Conference League this season for his former club.

Motherwell v Freiburg: All you need to know

Motherwell will take on last season’s Europa League finalists Freiburg on Thursday as they bid to reach the UEFA Conference League group stage.

The Steelmen defeated HJK Helsinki over two legs in the third qualifying phase. The Fir Park side earned a 1-1 draw in Finland before a Ibrahim Said double sealed a 2-0 win at home, 3-1 on aggregate, to send Alfred Johansson’s men into the play-off round.

The Bundesliga outfit will travel to North Lanarkshire this week to face a Motherwell team reeling after exiting the Premier Sports Cup at the hands of Scottish Championship side Stenhousemuir. The return fixture is set for August 27 in Germany.

Led by Julian Schuster, the club qualified for the Conference League play-off round after finishing seventh in the Bundesliga last season. And the Germans will arrive at Fir Park with a European pedigree after reaching last season’s Europa League final, where they were beaten 3-0 by English Premier League giants Aston Villa.

Freiburg play their home games at Europa-Park Stadion. The venue is located in the west of the city of Bruhl and has a capacity of around 34,700. The club have taken part in the UEFA Europa League for the last five consecutive seasons, culminating in that final appearance in Istanbul last term.

The domestic season is yet to get underway in Germany, while Motherwell will go into the two-legged tie having already kicked off their campaign under their new manager after Jens Berthel Askou’s summer exit.

Hearts v Rapid Vienna: All you need to know

Hearts dropped out of the Europa League qualifiers after suffering a 7-2 aggregate defeat to Benfica. However, Wouter Vrancken will be encouraged by his side’s 1-1 draw with the Portuguese giants in Thursday’s second leg.

The Edinburgh side will welcome Rapid Vienna to Tynecastle this week before returning to Austria just one month after being eliminated from Champions League qualifying by Sturm Graz.

Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side have started their domestic season with three wins from three, including an 8-0 win over Grazer AK. The Austrian record title holders have also won all four of their European games so far. Although, they last picked up the Austrian Bundesliga in 2008.

The away leg will take place on Wednesday, August 26, as opposed to Thursday, August 27, with Austria Vienna playing their own Conference League match at home against Braga.

Rapid Vienna reached the quarter-final stage of the Conference League last season, before being eliminated by Swedish side Djurgardens IF. The Austrians competed in last term’s league phase but their campaign ended winless.

Hibernian v Gent: All you need to know

Hibernian face Belgium opposition in the form of Gent in the Conference League play-off after seeing off North Macedonian outfit Shkendija over two legs.

David Gray’s side have reached this stage of qualifying for the second straight season, and they will be bidding for a league phase spot after missing out last year to Legia Warsaw.

The Easter Road side will have played eight games in 29 days ahead of Thursday’s first leg at the Ghelamco Arena, before welcoming the Belgians to the capital on August 27.

Gent defeated Goteborg in the third qualifying round to book a meeting with the Scots. A 3-1 defeat over two legs to Spanish side Real Betis saw the Belgians eliminated at the knockout stage last season.

The draw for the UEFA Conference League group phase will take place on August 28th, with the fixtures scheduled to begin on October 15th.