Fenerbahce to face FK Vardar in Europa League play-off

Istanbul club needs to eliminate Macedonian opponent to participate in group stages

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Fenerbahce will face Macedonia's FK Vardar in UEFA Europa League play-off round, following a draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday.

The two-legged fixture is one of the 22 that will decide which teams will go to the Europa League group stages.

The Istanbul club eliminated Austria's Sturm Graz in the third qualifying round on Thursday evening with a 3-2 aggregate over two games.

The first leg will be played in Macedonia on August 17, the second leg will be played on August 24 in Istanbul.

Fenerbahce, coming off a disappointing 2016-2017 season in which they finished at third place, added new players to the squad this summer.

The club brought back veteran goalkeeper Volkan Demirel and left-back Hasan Ali Kaldirim. It also welcomed 33-year-old Cameroonian goalkeeper Carlos Idriss Kameni and Monaco's breakout Moroccan star Nabil Dirar.

The Yellow Canaries also added Mathieu Valbuena from French club Lyon and Chilean player Mauricio Isla.

In other match-ups, last year's Europa League runners up Ajax will face Norway's Rosenborg, Italian giants AC Milan to play Macedonian Shkendija.

Here are the full draw results:

Shkendija (MKD) - Milan (ITA)

Vardar (MKD) - Fenerbahce (TUR)

Ajax (NED) - Rosenborg (NOR)

Osijek (CRO) - Austria Wien (AUT)

Crvena Zvezda (SRB) - Krasnodar (RUS)

Altach (AUT) - M. Tel-Aviv (ISR)

BATE (BLR) - Olexandriya (UKR)

Club Brugge (BEL) - AEK (GRE)

Marítimo (POR) - Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)