Almost all of the final Europa League 3rd qualifying round games are coming to a close and by the end of the night we’ll know the 35 teams joining us in tomorrow’s draw for the play-off round ahead of the group stage.

A few ties have been decided already, among them Rapid Vienna, who beat PFC Beroe Stara Zagora from Bulgaria 4-1 on aggregate. So, is it possible that we could get a rematch against our opponents from the same stage last year? Well, yes, it’s possible, but is it likely? Read on.

There will be a total of 74 teams in the draw tomorrow. The 35 winners from the 3rd round, 24 teams who enter the competition for the first time at this stage, Aston Villa among them, and 15 teams knocked out of the Champions League in the 3rd Round (10 from the Champions path and 5 from the non-Champions path). That final group includes Celtic, of course.

So far, here’s who we know will be in the draw:-

Qualified

*Mallorca are listed as “Pending” as UEFA have banned them from playing in Europe this season due the terrible state of their finances. They’ve already lost an appeal and their case is due to be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. I’d expect them to lose and Villarreal to take their place.

Ironically, I wrote about Mallorca coming within an agonising whisker of qualifying for the Champions League, only to see it snatched from their grasp during injury time at another game. In the end, it doesn’t look like they’ll even get the consolation prize of the Europa League. Just goes to show, finances are vitally important kids!

Champions League Losers

From The 3rd Round (Still In Progress At Time of Publication)

The Draw

All 74 team will be ranked according to their co-efficient scores, the top 37 teams will be seeded, the bottom 37 unseeded. Aston Villa will once again be a seeded team. Last year, I was incorrectly under the impression that we could be drawn against any of the 37 unseeded sides. Actually, I suspect to prevent teams from the same associations being drawn against each other, the teams will be split into seven pots containing an even number of seeded and unseeded teams.

I’m not sure of the procedure for determining these pots, it’s probably something UEFA will be busy working on as soon as tonight’s games are over. The reality is that there will only be five or six teams that it will be possible to get drawn against.

So, could we get a rematch against Rapid Vienna? Well, they will be unseeded so it will come down to whether they’re in a pot that we will be drawn against. If that’s the case, it will be a 5 or 6 to 1 shot.

Would you take those odds? Would you even fancy a rematch?

The draw will take place at 12.30pm GMT tomorrow (Friday) and the matches will be played on the 19th and 26th of August. You can keep up to date with all the relevant information regarding Villa’s European campaign on the Europa League page.