Hearts drawn alongside Fiorentina in Europa Conference League group

Hearts have been drawn alongside Italian outfit Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League.
The Tynecastle side, who lost to FC Zurich in their Europa League play-off, will also be joined in Group A by Turkish team Istanbul Basaksehir and Latvian side RFS.
The matches against Serie A side Fiorentina are likely to be particularly eagerly awaited by supporters, with Hearts not having played Italian opposition since they met Bologna in the UEFA Cup 31 years ago.
The Florence-based outfit finished seventh in the Italian top flight last term. Basaksehir – for whom Mesut Ozil plays – were fourth in the Turkish Super Lig last season.
Riga-based RFS, who only qualified for the group stage following a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Linfield in the play-off, won the Latvian league title last year and are currently third with three games remaining of this year’s campaign.
The group stage fixtures are due to begin on September 8.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.

‘Sir Gary Lineker? I don’t know how you comment on that – I’ve never even considered it. I just try to stand up for the things I believe in’ England legend tells FFT why he won’t stop raising humanitarian issues, even if it affects potential honours

'I fell on the floor and shouted for a penalty. Someone pulled me up and said, "Don’t cheat to win penalties". It was Steve McManaman. I never did it again!' Ex-Liverpool forward reveals harsh lesson he learnt from his team-mate on Reds debut