Revealed: The opponents lying in wait should Hibs beat Inter Club d'Escaldes in Europa Conference League

Hibs have learned their potential opponents should they defeat Inter Club d’Escaldes in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The Easter Road side faced a wait to learn if they would be travelling to Andorra or the Faroes as Inter took on Víkingur Gøta in the first qualifying round and with the Andorrans prevailing, Lee Johnson’s men travel to the tiny principality this week, on Thursday July 27, before hosting the return leg in the Capital on Thursday August 3.

Ahead of the draw later today, UEFA has separated the draw into groups of seeded, and unseeded clubs or ties. Hibs have been allocated to Group 4 and will be number nine in the draw. They could face trips to Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Turkey, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Sweden, Switzerland, or Portugal should they knock out Otger Canals’ side – including a rematch against one of their first ever European opponents in Djurgårdens of Sweden, who Hibs defeated in the 1955/56 European Cup at the quarter-final stage.

Hibs could face Portuguese side Arouca, or be drawn against the winners of the ties between Belgians KAA Gent and MŠK Žilina of Slovakia; Romanians CFR 1907 Cluj and Turkish Süper Lig representatives Adana Demirspor; Czechs Viktoria Plzeň and FC Drita of Kosovo; Djurgårdens and Swiss outfit Luzern. Cluj are the highest-ranked team in terms of coefficient along with Plzeň, on 27.500 points and 22.000 points respectively. Drita, Adana, and Luzern are all ranked below Hibs.

A view of a Europa Conference League match ball ahead of a match. Picture: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

The Capital club have never before faced European opposition from Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia or Turkey but have previously faced teams from Portugal on three occasions, playing Belenenses, Porto, and Vitória de Guimarães. Their only previous encounter against Swiss opposition came during the first round of the 1960/61 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in which Hibs were awarded a walkover against Lausanne.

It has been a mixed bag against Swedish teams, with Hibs recording victories against Djurgårdens, Malmö, Norrköping, and Öster during the 1970s but suffering comprehensive defeats by Elfsborg and Malmö in the 2008/09 Intertoto Cup and 2013/14 Europa League second qualifying round respectively. In both Hibs’ previous continental encounters with teams from Belgium, the Hibees were eliminated on the away goals rule – first by RFC Liège and then by Anderlecht.

Group 4 in full

Seeded

1 KAA Gent (BEL) / MŠK Žilina (SVK)

2 CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU) / Adana Demirspor (TUR)

3 Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) / FC Drita (KOS)

4 Djurgårdens (SWE) / FC Luzern (SUI)

5 FC Arouca (POR)

Unseeded

6 Gzira United (MLT) / F91 Diddelang (LUX)

7 Linfield (NIR) / Pogoń Szczecin (POL)

8 NK Osijek (CRO) / ZTE FC (HUN)

9 Hibs (SCO) / Inter Club d’Escaldes (AND)

10 SK Brann (NOR)