Aberdeen learn Conference League draw fate - and who Hibs would have got if they qualified
Dons discover six opponents in Conference League as Hibs miss out
Aberdeen have been handed a tough set of fixtures in the Conference League following Friday's draw in Monaco.
The Dons dropped into Uefa's third tier competition following their elimination from the Europa League play-off round at the hands of Romanian side FCSB on Thursday.
Jimmy Thelin's men battled back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw at Pittodrie last week but went down to a 3-0 defeat in Bucharest in the second leg after losing the first goal on the stroke of half-time to a controversial penalty awarded following a VAR check which also resulted in right-back Alexander Jensen being sent off for handball.
The revamped Conference League now features 36 clubs in a single league format, with each club drawn against one opponent from each of the six seeding pots, playing a total of six matches home and away.
Aberdeen were placed in pot four and the draw, conducted by a Uefa supercomputer, handed them three home matches against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, French club Strasbourg and Armenian champions Noah.
The away fixtures will take the Red Army to the Czech Republic, Greece and Cyprus to face Sparta Prague, AEK Athens and AEK Larnaca respectively.
Hibs will also be looking at Legia Warsaw's draw and wondering 'what if' after they were knocked out at the play-off round in agonising manner in Poland on Thursday night. Hibs came back from two goals down in the tie to lead 4-3 on aggregate only to concede a 94th minute leveller before losing in extra-time. Legia will play Sparta Prague, Lincoln Red Imps and Samsunspor at home while travelling to Shakhtar Donetsk, Celje and Noah.
The top eight in the Conference League table advance directly to the round of 16 while sides finishing from ninth to 24th contest the knockout round play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. Teams finishing 25th and below will be eliminated.
The order of matches, dates and kick-off times will be confirmed by Uefa over the weekend with games taking place on the following dates: Matchday 1 - 2 October 2025; Matchday 2 - 23 October 2025; Matchday 3 - 6 November 2025; Matchday 4 - 27 November 2025; Matchday 5 - 11 December 2025; Matchday 6 - 18 December 2025.
Aberdeen's Conference League fixtures:
Shakhtar Donetsk (h)
Sparta Prague (a)
Strasbourg (h)
AEK Athens (a)
Noah (h)
AEK Larnaca (a)
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