Europa League: Rangers could meet Midtjylland, Aberdeen may face Rijeka
- Published
Steven Gerrard congratulates Alfredo Morelos after his hat-trick against St Joseph's
Rangers could face Danes Midtjylland if they overcome Progres Niederkorn in the Europa League while Aberdeen could meet 2015 opponents Rijeka of Croatia if they beat Chikhura Sachkhere.
The Pittodrie side beat Rijeka in the 2015 Europa League qualifiers.
Steven Gerrard's Ibrox side and Derek McInnes's Dons play the first legs of their second qualifying round ties on Thursday, the return legs next week.
Luxembourg side Progres visit Glasgow while Aberdeen are in Georgia.
If Celtic lose their Champions League second qualifying round tie against Estonians Nomme Kalju, they will meet Shkendija of Macedonia or Luxembourg's F91 Dudelange in the Europa League third qualifying round, which will take place over 8 and 15 August. All Scottish sides would be away from home in the first leg.
Rangers scored 10 without reply in their first qualifying round tie with St Joseph's of Gibraltar while Aberdeen were 4-2 aggregate winners over Finnish side RoPS Rovaniemi.
Midtjylland
Kenneth Andersen's side, like Rangers, finished as runners-up in their domestic league last season, with Copenhagen winning the Superliga by just one point.
Midtjylland last reached the Europa League group stage in season 2015-16 and were eventually knocked out in the last 32 by Manchester United.
Former Celtic defender Erik Sviatchenko is one of the Denmark internationals in their squad, which also includes four Brazilians.
Chairman Rasmus Ankersen is also a director at Brentford.
Rijeka
Having finished a distant second to champions Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia's top flight, Rijeka will attempt to reach the group stages of the Europa League for the fourth time.
They have never progressed to the knockout rounds and lost to Sarpsborg 08 of Norway at the third qualifying round stage last term.
Current manager and former Liverpool player Igor Biscan was not in charge when Rijeka last took on Aberdeen, having taken over in 2018.
Captain Alexander Gorgon is a regular scorer from midfield, the Austrian netting 35 goals since joining Rijeka in 2016.
Niall McGinn scored as Aberdeen eliminated Rijeka four years ago
Europa League third qualifying round
Champions path
Sutjeska (Montenegro)/APOEL (Cyprus) v HB Torshavn (Faroe Islands)/Linfield (Northern Ireland)
CFR Cluj (Romania)/Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel) v SP Tre Penne (San Marino)/Suduva (Lithuania)
Ararat-Armenia (Armenia)/Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) v Saburtalo (Georgia)/GNK Dinamo (Croatia)
Piast Gliwice (Poland)/Riga FC (Latvia) v Crvena Zvezda (Serbia)/HJK Helsinki (Finland)
Valur Reykjavik (Iceland)/Ludogorets (Bulgaria) v The New Saints (Wales)/Copenhagen (Denmark)
Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) v BATE Borisov (Belarus)/Rosenborg (Norway)
Shkendija (Macedonia )/Dudelange (Luxembourg) v Celtic (Scotland)/Nomme Kalju (Estonia)
FC Santa Coloma (Andorra)/Astana (Kazakhstan) v Ferencvaros (Hungary)/Valletta (Malta)
Partizani (Albania)/Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) v Maribor (Solvenia)/AIK (Sweden)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)/Feronikeli (Kosovo) v Dundalk (Republic of Ireland)/Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
Main path
Norrkoping (Sweden)/Liepaja (Latvia) v Hapoel Beer-Sheva (Israel)/Kairat Almaty (Kazakhstan)
Torino (Italy)/Debrecen (Hungary) v Shakhtyor Soligorsk (Belarus)/Esbjerg (Denmark)
Royal Antwerp (Belgium) v Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)/Olympiacos (Greece)
Austria Wien (Austria) v Shamrock Rovers (Republic of Ireland)/Apollon Limassol (Cyprus)
Feyenoord (Netherlands) v Gabala (Azerbaijan)/Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia)
Lechia Gdansk (Poland)/Brondby (Denmark) v Braga (Portugal)
Molde (Norway)/Cukari Cki (Serbia) v Aris Thessaloniki (Greece)/AEL Limassol (Cyprus)
Lokomotiv Plovdiv 1926 (Bulgaria)/Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) v Strasbourg (France)/Maccabi Haifa (Israel)
Thun (Switzerland) v Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Alashkert (Armenia)/FCSB (Romania) v Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic)/Ordabasy Shymkent (Kazakhstan)
Pyunik (Armenia)/Jablonec (Czech Republic) v Wolverhampton Wanderers (England)/Crusaders (Northern Ireland)
Midtjylland (Denmark) v Rangers (Scotland)/Progres Niederkorn (Luxembourg)
Mariupol (Ukraine) v AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands)/Hacken (Sweden)
AEK Larnaca (Cyprus)/Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) v Gent (Belgium)/Viitorul (Romania)
Legia Warsaw (Poland)/KuPS (Finland) v Dunajska Streda (Slovakia)/Atromitos (Greece)
Haugesund (Norway)/Sturm Graz (Austria) v PSV (Netherlands)/Basel (Switzerland)
Rijeka (Croatia) v Chikhura Sachkhere (Georgia)/Aberdeen (Scotland)
Ventspils (Latvia)/Gzira United (Malta) v Jeunesse Esch (Luxembourg)/Vitoria SC (Portugal)
Fehervar (Hungary)/Vaduz (Liechtenstein) v Flora Tallinn (Estonia)/Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
Connah's Quay Nomads (Wales)/Partizan (Serbia) v Malatyaspor (Turkey)/Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Domzale (Slovenia)/Malmo (Sweden) v Utrecht (Netherlands)/Zrinjski (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)/Osijek (Croatia) v Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro)/Zorya Luhansk (Ukraine)
Arsenal Tula (Russia)/Neftci (Azerbaijan) v Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv (Israel)
Luzern (Switzerland)/KI (Faroe Islands) v Espanyol (Spain)/Stjarnan (Iceland)
Sparta Praha (Czech Republic) v Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Budapest Honved (Hungary)/Universitatea Craiova (Romania) v AEK Athens (Greece)