Manchester United have been drawn against Bruges in the Champions League play-offs – with the first leg at Old Trafford.
The winners will progress to the Champions League group stages proper and the losers will drop into the Europa League group stages.
Bruges, who finished second in the Belgian league last season, beat Panathinaikos 4-2 on aggregate in the previous round but it will be seen as a decent draw for Louis van Gaal’s side, who could have been pitted against Lazio, Monaco or CSKA Moscow.
United have never played Bruges but they have a history of meeting Belgian opposition in Europe, including a record 10-0 victory over Anderlecht in the 1956-57 European Cup.
Full draw for Champions League play-offs
Astana (Kaz) v APOEL (Cyp)
Skenderbeu (Alb) v Dinamo Zagreb (Cro)
Celtic (Sco) v Malmo (Swe)
Basel (Sui) v Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Isr)
BATE Borisov (Blr) v Partizan Belgrade (Srb)
Lazio (Ita) v Bayer Leverkusen (Ger)
Manchester United (Eng) v Club Brugge (Bel)
Sporting Lisbon (Por) v CSKA Moscow (Rus)
Rapid Vienna (Aut) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr)
Valencia (Esp) v Monaco (Fra)
The ties will be played on August 18/19 and August 25/26.
