Liverpool to meet Hearts in Europa League
Liverpool can look forward to a Battle of Britain showdown against Scottish club Hearts in the play-off round of the Europa League after the draw was made here on Friday. The Premier League club beat Gomel of Belarus 3-0 at Anfield on Thursday to secure a 4-0 aggregate success that set up the clash with the Scottish Cup holders. Hearts will be hoping to do better than the last time they faced English opposition in European competition -- last season, the Edinburgh outfit lost 5-0 on aggregate to Tottenham Hotspur at the same stage of the competition. Newcastle United have been drawn to face last season's Greek Cup runners-up Atromitos, with the first legs to be played on August 23 and the return on August 30. Motherwell, who lost to Panathinaikos of Greece 5-0 on aggregate in the Champions League third qualifying round, have been drawn against Spanish club Levante, for whom it will be a first ever European tie. In other ties, last season's runners-up Athletic Bilbao will meet HJK Helsinki, who were beaten by Celtic in the Champions League third qualifying round, while Inter Milan will face Vaslui of Romania.
