Reds face Hearts, Toon to Athens

Liverpool have been drawn to play Hearts in the Europa League play-offs, while Newcastle face Atromitos of Greece and Motherwell meet Levante.

The Reds cruised into the final qualifying round of the competition with a 4-0 aggregate win over FC Gomel of Belarus, while Hearts qualified for this stage by virtue of winning the Scottish Cup.

Newcastle will face Atromitos of Athens, while Motherwell have been given a tough assignment after being drawn against Spanish Primera Division side Levante, based in Valencia.

The first-leg ties set to be played on either August 22 or 23 with the return legs a week later and the undoubted interest in Britain will be Liverpool's clash with Hearts, who will host the first leg at Tynecastle.

It would have been a welcome draw for the Reds, who have avoided an energy-sapping foreign trip three days before their second league match of the season against Manchester City.

However, it may prove to be a baptism of fire for new manager Brendan Rodgers, who will see his side travel to West Brom, then Tynecastle for the first leg before the small matter of hosting the Premier League champions Manchester City all within the space of eight days.

Newcastle's challenge is equally daunting as they must travel to Greece in-between their Premier League curtain-raiser at home to Tottenham and a trip to Champions League winners Chelsea.

Atromitos will prove to be a tough challenge in likely testing conditions, with the Athens-based side finishing fourth in the Greek Super League.

They were 23 points adrift of champions Olympiacos, with whom Alan Pardew's men drew 1-1 in a friendly in Portugal last month.

Fellow Greek outfit Panathinaikos dumped Motherwell out of the Champions League stage with a thumping 5-0 aggregate win in the recently completed third qualifying round.

Stuart McCall's men therefore drop into the Europa League and they find their route to the main draw blocked by Levante, who enter European football for the first time after finishing sixth in La Liga last season.

They do not have any links to Scottish football but do count former Rangers duo Gabriel Amato and Shota Arveladze and current Celtic assistant manager Johan Mjallby amongst their ex-players.

Well will host the first leg before travelling to the Estadi Ciutat de Valencia a week later.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan will be hopeful of taking their place in the group stage after drawing Romanian opponents Vaslui in the play-offs.

The Serie A side were slightly fortunate to be in the draw at all having edged through their third qualifying round match against Hajduk Split 3-2 on aggregate, despite a 2-0 home loss in the second leg.

Inter won the Europa League's predecessor, the UEFA Cup, three times but struggled in Serie A last season finishing sixth.

Their league rivals Lazio will face Slovenian side Mura in the play-offs.

Athletic Bilbao will take on Finnish champions HJK Helsinki. Coupe de la Ligue winners Marseille have a fixture against Sheriff Tiraspol to look forward to, with Bordeaux set to come up against Red Star Belgrade.

Hannover and Stuttgart fly the flag for the Bundesliga against Slask Wroclaw and Dinamo Moscow.

The Eredivisie have five clubs in the play-offs - AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, Heerenveen, FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven.

They face Anzhi Makhachkala, Sparta Prague, Molde, Bursaspor and Zeta (Montenegro) respectively.

Draw for the UEFA Europa League play-off round: Anzhi Makhachkala v AZ Alkmaar, APOEL Nicosia v Neftci Baku, Atromitos v Newcastle, Tromso v FK Partizan Belgrade, Vaslui v Inter Milan, Hearts v Liverpool, Athletic Bilbao v HJK Helsinki, Maritimo v FC Dila Gori/Anorthosis Famagusta, Molde v Heerenveen, Debrecen v Club Brugge, Sheriff Tiraspol v Marseille, Trabzonspor v Videoton, FC Midtjylland v Young Boys Berne, Slask Wroclaw v Hannover 96, Dinamo Bucurest v Metalist Kharkiv, AC Horsens v Sporting Lisbon, Hapoel Tel-Aviv v F91 Dudelange, Feyenoord v Sparta Prague, Motherwell v Levante, Red Star Belgrade v Bordeaux, Lokeren v Viktoria Plzen, Lazio v Mura 05 (Slovenia), AIK v CSKA Moscow, Legia Warsaw v Rosenborg, Bursaspor v FC Twente, Steaua Bucuresti v Ekranas, Slovan Liberec v Dnipro, VfB Stuttgart v Dinamo Moscow, PAOK v Rapid Vienna, Luzern v Genk, Zeta v PSV Eindhoven.

Ties to be played 23 and 30 August.