Robbie Neilson’s men have been drawn against the winners of the tie between Northern Ireland champions Linfield and Swiss side Zurich. The first leg will be played away, scheduled for August 18, with the return leg at Tynecastle the following week. Linfield and Zurich play their first-leg tie on Thursday in Northern Ireland with the return leg next Thursday. Hearts are just 180 minutes from the Europa League group stage where the likes of Roma, Manchester United, Arsenal, Lazio and Feyenoord lie in wait. However, defeat would still see the club play group stage football, dropping into the Conference League. It is the club's first European campaign since 2016 when they played two qualifying rounds, eventually losing to Maltese outfit Birkirkara. It will be the first group stage involvement since 2004 and the five-team UEFA Cup group when they faced Feyenoord, Schalke 04, Basel and Ferencvaros.
