Manchester City draw Steaua Bucharest in Champions League play-offs

Manchester City have been drawn against Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League play-offs.

City finished fourth in the Premier League and so must earn their place in the lucrative group stage, as new

---

boss Pep Guardiola looks to go one better than last season’s semi-final run under Manuel Pellegrini.

In the other side of Friday’s draw, Celtic were handed a tie against Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva.

Brendan Rodgers’ side beat Kazakh team Astana in the third qualifying round.

Dundalk are aiming to become the first team from the Republic of Ireland to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League and will face Legia Warsaw of Poland.

The Lilywhites produced a shock victory over BATE Borisov to secure a shot at reaching Europe’s elite club competition.

The first legs will be played on August 16 and 17, with the return fixtures taking place on August 23 and 24.

The official result of the #UCLdraw … Here are your

#UCL Play-offs!

11:21 AM – 5 Aug 2016

Champions League

@ChampionsLeague Follow

Manchester City sporting director Txiki Begiristain says there will be no complacency against the Romanians.

“It’s going to be a difficult tie because Steaua are on the up again in Europe and have a lot of talent,” he said on www.uefa.com.

Dundalk, who currently lead the League of Ireland, were the team with lowest coefficient rating in the draw and will play their home leg at the 51,700-seater Aviva Stadium in Dublin, rather than at the 4,500-capacity Oriel Park.

The 10 play-off winners will join 22 automatic entrants in the group stage, which will include English champions Leicester for the first time.

Elsewhere, other notable ties see Porto, who won the tournament under Jose Mourinho in 2004, face Italian side Roma while Villarreal play Monaco, with the losers set to go into the Europa League.