TEAMS UNITED COULD FACE

TEAMS UNITED COULD FACE

United to play one of five European rivals

Manchester United will meet Club Brugge, CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Monaco or Rapid Vienna in the Champions League play-offs later this month.

The draw takes place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon this Friday morning at 11:00 BST as Louis van Gaal's men bid to reach the group stages of Europe's premier competition. United are one of the five seeded teams competing against five unseeded sides in the 'League Route' of the play-offs on 18/19 August and 25/26 August.

On Tuesday, Monaco progressed with a 7-1 aggregate success over Young Boys but Ajax's shock exit to Rapid Vienna (5-4 over two legs) means the Austrians, rather than Sporting Lisbon, are potential opponents. Sporting instead take Ajax's seeding spot.

CSKA Moscow came from 0-2 down to beat Sparta Prague 3-2 on Wednesday, and qualify 5-4 overall, before Club Brugge clinched their place with a 3-0 (4-2 aggregate) win over Panathinaikos. The final tie affecting United saw Fenerbahce crash out 3-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk. Nani played but Robin van Persie was not involved and there will be no swift reunion with the former Reds.

Play-off Round (ties 18/19 and 25/26 August)
Seeded: Bayer Leverkusen, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon, Valencia.
Unseeded: Club Brugge, CSKA Moscow, Lazio, Monaco, Rapid Vienna.

Each seeded team will face one of the five unseeded clubs.