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Heart of Midlothian could be paired with a big name from around Europe as the club seek to reach the newly formatted league phase of the Europa League.

It was confirmed on Sunday that the Tynecastle Park club will enter the play-off round of UEFA's secondary competition after Atalanta secured their spot in the top four in Serie A. Hearts had required Atalanta to finish below fourth and for Borussia Dortmund to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday to advance straight into the Europa League.

Instead, they will play a two-legged tie in August to determine their place in Europe. If they lose they will drop into the Conference League league phase.

READ MORE: Hearts in Europe: Finances, opponents, and why Conference League could be best

As things stand, Hearts are one of five teams guaranteed to be in the Europa League play-off, alongside Anderlecht, Besiktas, LASK Linz and TSC. They will be joined by 13 sides advancing from the third qualifying round and six teams dropping down from the Champions path of the Champions League qualifying. 

Steven Naismith's men are set to be unseeded making their task all that more difficult to advance. Early projections of what the play-off round will look like demonstrate the recognised names and established, experienced opponents that stand in their way.

Football Rankings have predicted the 12 teams that will be on the other side of the draw with Dutch giants Ajax the standout potential opponent. The Amsterdam outfit come in at the second qualifying round stage and could be drawn against Kilmarnock.

Other notable opponents include Turkish, Greek and Belgian giants Besiktas, Panathinaikos and Anderlecht respectively. 

Two clubs Hearts have previously played in Europe, Braga and Ferencvaros, are other possibilities. As are LASK, Viktoria Plzen, Malmo, APOEL Nicosia, Qarabag and Trabzonspor.

The draw is scheduled for August 5 with the two-legged tie due to take place on August 22 and 29.