Bayer Leverkusen will travel to Denmark to face København for the first-leg of their Champions League Play-Off in a bid to reach the group stages.

"I'm glad we haven't been drawn against Athletic Bilbao," Leverkusen's sporting director Rudi Völler told the club's website. "We are of course looking forward to playing against our former player, Nicolai Jorgensen."

This will be the first time Roger Schmidt's men will meet in a competitive match, with the Germans the likely favourite.

Leverkusen have won one, drawn one, and lost one against Danish opposition in competitive matches, scoring and conceding five goals.

"We will be playing against a very formidable adversary. We must give a top performance," said Schmidt. "There are no easy opponents. We have to have intense preparation."

Last season, Bayer Leverkusen were knocked out of the Champions League following a 6-1 aggregate defeat to French Champions Paris Saint-Germain.

Last season København finished their season runners-up in the Superligaen. The Danish giants have won the league nine times in 13 years, and as recently as the 2012/13 season.

However, Ståle Solbakken's men haven't enjoyed much success in the Europe. Last year they finished fourth in their group, with Real Madrid, Galatasaray and Juventus. They reached the round of 16 in 2010/11 where they were eventually knocked out by Chelsea.

Elsewhere, Borussia Mönchengladbach will travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina to face FK Sarajevo for the first leg of the Europa League Play-Off round. The return will be held at Borussia-Park the following week.

Since the formation of the Europa League, the Bosnian club haven't progressed further than the qualifying stages.

Mönchengladbach have won the UEFA Cup on two occasions, in the 1974/75 season and four years later in the 1978/89 season.

VAVEL Logo
About the author