Villarreal, Poznan, Be'er Sheva - "Hard, but attractive!"

Villarreal, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Lech Posen - The lottery fairy for the UEFA Conference League group stage was tough, but not merciless. Head coach Manfred Schmid: "I think it's an extremely tough, but definitely attractive group. We definitely want to sell ourselves as dearly as possible!"

For the first time since the 2017/2018 season, Austria qualified for a European group stage again. After the elimination in the Europa League playoff against Fenerbahce Istanbul (0:2/h, 1:4/a), Manfred Schmid's team was drawn from pot 3 of the European Conference League and will face Villarreal (ESP), Hapoel Be'er Sheva (ISR) and Lech Poznan (POL) in Group C. The match dates are September 8 and 15, October 6, 13 and 27, and November 3. The exact match schedule will follow on Saturday.

Coach Manfred Schmid: "I think it is an extremely difficult, but definitely attractive group. Villarreal is an absolute top team and of course the clear favorite. Lech Poznan, the Polish champions, have been drawn, and Be'er Sheva are the Israeli runners-up. We must and will now analyze these two teams in detail. Of course, we fancy our chances. We definitely want to sell ourselves as dearly as possible and score our points."