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.