The Viktorians now know the name of the opponent they will face in the play-off for a place in the group stage of the Europa League. It will be either Hapoel Beer-Sheva of Israel or Crvena zvezda of Serbia.

The draw in Nyon, Switzerland, has determined Viktoria Plzeň’s first European opponent of the season. In the Europa League play-offs, we will face the loser of the tie between Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Crvena zvezda. The two clubs will face each other in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, with the loser progressing to the Europa League qualifiers. The first leg will take place at the opponent’s ground on Thursday 20 August, with the second leg to be played at the Doosan Arena a week later, on 27 August.

We have not yet faced Crvena Zvezda in recent history, but we have come up against Hapoel Beer-Sheva twice. In 2017, we beat our Israeli opponents 3–1 at home in the Europa League group stage (Petržela, Kopic, Bakoš) and also picked up three points away from home with a 2–0 win (Hejda, Hořava). However, in the 2020 play-offs, we lost 0–1. That tie was played as a single-leg fixture during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this season’s European competitions, both potential opponents are competing for a place in the Champions League. Hapoel Beer-Sheva knocked out Iceland’s Vikingur Reykjavík in the second qualifying round (2–1 and 2–0), whilst Crvena Zvezda eliminated Northern Ireland’s Larne (4–0 and 5–0).

A potential tie against Hapoel would be played on neutral ground. “As soon as we have more specific information, we will let our fans know straight away,” said club spokesperson Václav Hanzlík.