Kilmarnock gear up for Europa League second qualifying round draw

It’s nearly time for Kilmarnock fans to dig out the passports and get searching for cheap hotels and flights.

You’ll maybe have to tell the boss that you need to take up some of your holidays allowance, too.

It’s been an all too rare occurrence in recent years for the Killie faithful with this being only the second time they’ve qualified for Europe since 2000. So you’ll not want to miss it.

The Rugby Park side will find out tomorrow who they’ll be facing in the Europa League second qualifying round.

One thing’s for certain - there won’t be a repeat of their last European adventure all the way to err...Wales when they were knocked out by Connah’s Quay Nomads.

No disrespect to the Cymru Premier outfit but the names and potential opponents this time around are a bit more glamorous with the likes of Ajax and Cercle Brugge being possible foes. And Amsterdam and Brugge certainly offer a little more as away days for fans than Rhyl.

There’s also the added reward this time of knowing there’s at least two European trips to look forward to as an exit in the Europa League would see Derek McInnes’ side drop into the Europa Conference League. So there’s at least two bites to the cherry.

It also makes the chances of securing continental group stage football a little easier – although that’s an achievement even the most optimistic Killie fan would admit is highly unlikely.

How does it all work? Well...simply put Kilmarnock would need to progress through three rounds to reach the Europa League group stage.

But, if they exit that competition at any point, they’ll be demoted into the third-tier Europa Conference League where they would join in the following round.

For example, exiting the Europa League in the second qualifying round means they’d be in the Europa Conference third round draw – where they’d be two rounds away from the group stage.

Anyway, we can all have hopes and dreams but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet.

Here, the Standard takes a look at Killie’s potential opponents when the draw gets made in Switzerland on Wednesday at 12noon UK time.

AJAX

Country: Netherlands

Location: Amsterdam

Stadium: Johan Cruyff Arena - capacity 55,865

Last season: 5th place

Major honours: 4x European Cup/Champions League; 1 x UEFA Cup; 1 x European Cup Winners’ Cup; 36 x Dutch champions.

By far the most glamorous tie, Dutch giants Ajax have been crowned European champions four times and reached the Champions League final as recently as 2021-22 - and the Europa League final the following season.

Despite coming off their worst domestic season since 2000, they still represent the most difficult tie for Killie.

Star players include 81 cap England midfielder Jordan Henderson and Dutch striker Brian Brobbey, who could attract a big summer move following a 22-goal campaign.

CERCLE BRUGGE

Country: Belgium

Location: Brugge

Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium - capacity 29,025

Last season: 4th place

Major honours: 3x Belgian champions; 2 x Belgian Cup winners

Pipped Genk to European qualification on goal difference on the final day of the campaign.

Brugge are owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev who is also President of French club Monaco - a link-up that has led to several players moving between the two clubs.

Solid both in attack and defence, Togolese striker Kevin Denkey topped the Belgian top flight scoring ranks with 27 last term while goalkeeper Warleson was second in clean sheets with a dozen.

This is the first time they’ve played in Europe since the 2010-11 season.

HNK RIJEKA

Country: Croatia

Location: Rijeka

Stadium: Stadion Rujevika - capacity 8,279

Last season: 2nd place

Major honours: 1 x Croatian champions; 6 x Croatian Cup winners

Based on the Croatian coast, Rijeka’s Stadion Rujevika overlooks the Adriatic Sea and would certainly provide a pleasant backdrop for any travelling Killie fans.

Rijeka were runners-up to Dinamo Zagreb in both the league and cup last term and have finished second in the league six times in the last 10 years.

Derek McInnes came up against them twice as Aberdeen boss - winning 5-2 on aggregate in 2015-16, but losing 4-0 four years later.

Winger Marco Pasalic is a key player, having recently earned his first call-up to the national team, as is Marko Pjaca who has previous experience at five different Serie A clubs before signing for Rijeka last summer.

MOLDE FK

Country: Norway

Location: Molde

Stadium: Aker Stadion - capacity 11,249

Last season: 5th place

Major honours: 5 x Norwegian champions; 6 x Norwegian Cup winners

The powerhouse of Norwegian football over the last 25 years, Molde have finished in the top two a remarkable 14 times since 1995 and all five of their domestic titles have arrived since 2011.

They play a summer schedule in Norway, meaning the current season is already 12 games old with Molde sitting in fourth place.

They beat Hibs 3-0 in Europa League qualfiying in 2018 - a match in which Erling Haaland scored twice.

Ex-Manchester United youth prospect Magnus Wolff Eikrem has netted eight times in 16 appearances, while Norwegian international Matts Moller Daehli was their big pre-season arrival, signging from Bundesliga 2 side Nuremberg.

RAPID WIEN

Country: Austria

Location: Vienna

Stadium: Allianz Stadion - capacity 28,345

Last season: 4th place

Major honours: 32 x Austrian champions; 14 x Austrian Cup winners

Historically the most successful club in Austria, those days are long gone having lifted the title just three times since 1988.

Despite not having the recent silverware to back it up, they still remain the best supported team in the country with their average attendance last term of 18,575 being more than 4,500 ahead of their closest rival - champions Sturm Graz.

They’ve reached the Europa League group stages six times in the last decade while they were knocked out by eventual finalists Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League last term.

Four Rapid players were named in Austria’s squad for Euro 2024, including highly rated 20-year-old centre-back Leopold Querfeld, although none featured in their opening 1-0 loss to France.

SPORTING CLUBE DE BRAGA

Country: Portugal

Location: Braga

Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Braga - capacity 30,360

Last season: 4th place

Major honours: 3 x Portuguese Cup winners, 3 x Portuguese League Cup winners.

Braga’s picturesque stadium is carved into the side of an old quarry while the club are 29.6 per cent owned by Qatar Sports Investments - who own Paris Saint Germain.

Despite having never won their own domestic title, Braga have only finished outside of the top five twice in the last 20 years and reached the Europa League final in 2011 where the lost to fellow Portuguese outfit Porto.

Familiar names include midfielder Joao Moutinho, who sits second all-time on Portugal’s most capped list with 146. Simon Banza’s 21 league goals saw him finish runner-up in the golden boot race.

Were knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the Europa League by Rangers in 2021-22.

TRABZONSPOR

Country: Turkey

Location: Trabzon

Stadium: Papara Park - capacity 40,782

Last season: 3rd place

Major honours: 7 x Turkish champions; 9 x Turkish Cup winners

The club’s heydays were in the 1970s and 80s when they won six titles and finished runners-up three times during a nine year spell.

Not unlike other Turkish sides, they have plenty of cash and tend to sign former big names towards the tailend of their career - such as former Dortmund and PSG full-back Thomas Meunier and Nicolas Pepe, who flopped at Arsenal after a £72 million move from Lille, who both played key roles last term.

Club captain and goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir was the sole club representative named in the Turkey squad for Euro 2024.

ROUND ONE WINNERS

While seven potential opponents are known, two won’t be at the time of the draw as they involve winners of first qualifying round ties.

However, what is known is that it will be the ties involving Slovenian side NK Maribor and Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova.

Both sides are far and away the most successful in their respective countries with Maribor being champions 16 times and only ever falling below fourth place once.

Sheriff, meanwhile, are based in the unrecognised breakaway province of Transnistria - an area where travel is not advised by the UK Government. On the park, Sheriff have won 21 of the last 24 Moldovan top flight titles and were runners-up last season to Petrocub.

Notable European results include a 2-1 away win over Real Madrid in the 2021-22 Champions League. They qualified for the Europa League group stages last season.

Both teams will be considered heavy favourites to win their first round ties with Maribor taking on Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv and Tiraspol battling it out with Azerbaijan outfit Zire.

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