Debutants and stalwarts ready for draw

UEFA.com surveys the 18 teams set to begin their UEFA Europa League campaigns in the third qualifying round ahead of Friday's draw.

The third qualifying round draw, streamed live on UEFA.com from 13.00CET, will contain a total of 98 clubs; 80 of those in the pot will be midway through the 40 second qualifying round ties, the first legs of which are tonight and the returns next Tuesday and Thursday.

While there will be a number of ifs, buts and maybes following the draw, there are 18 clubs involved who are certain to be in action when the third qualifying round starts at the end of the month.

FC Astra Giurgiu (ROU)
Having achieved their highest-ever league position of second in May, Astra won their first Romanian Cup by defeating FC Steaua Bucureşti 4-2 on penalties. 

Atromitos FC (GRE)
The Greek club had the second-best defence and lost the second-lowest amount of matches in the Super League last season, beaten on both occasions by champions Olympiacos FC.

Brøndby IF (DEN)
Having escaped relegation on the last day of the 2012/13 campaign, Brøndby recovered to finish fourth last term, missing out on UEFA Champions League football by just four points. 

FC Chornomorets Odesa (UKR)
Last season Chornomorets not only made their debut in the UEFA Europa League group stage, they also qualified for the knockout phase of a European competition for the first time. 

Club Brugge reached the 2012/13 group stage©Getty Images

Club Brugge KV (BEL)
Club Brugge came second in Belgium's regular league season, but were overtaken by RSC Anderlecht in the play-offs, denying them a UEFA Champions League qualifying spot. 

FC Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
Dinamo have not progressed past the qualifying stages of a UEFA competition since 2001 and two years ago they lost against VfB Stuttgart in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. 

Ermis Aradippou FC (CYP)
Ermis qualified for their first UEFA competition following an impressive run in the Cypriot top flight last term that earned them fourth place. 

Hapoel Kiryat Shmona FC (ISR)
Kiryat Shmona lifted their first Israeli State Cup last season, but in their only previous UEFA Europa League campaign – in 2012/13 – they failed to win any of six group matches. 

Hull City AFC (ENG)
Hull reached the FA Cup final for the first time in May but despite taking a 2-0 lead inside eight minutes at Wembley Stadium, they went on to lose 3-2 to Arsenal FC after extra time. 

Kardemir Karabükspor (TUR)
The Turkish outfit achieved their highest league finish after ending the Süper Lig campaign in seventh. As a result they will play in UEFA competition for the first time. 

1. FSV Mainz 05 (GER)
Mainz became the first German team to fall in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers after succumbing to CS Gaz Metan Mediaş in the third qualifying round of 2011. 

Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
Lyon were knocked out of last season's UEFA Europa League quarter-finals by Juventus. They are featuring in UEFA competition for the 18th successive campaign, a French record.  

PSV Eindhoven (NED)
A young PSV team had a good start to 2013/14 and after dropping as low as tenth midway through the campaign, they recovered to end up fourth. 

La Real were in the UEFA Champions League©AFP/Getty Images

Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP)
La Real were in the UEFA Champions League group stage last autumn, and they bounced back from a difficult opening to the Liga season to claim seventh place.

Rio Ave FC (POR)
Due to SL Benfica's championship-winning season, Rio Ave qualified for the UEFA Europa League as Portuguese Cup runners-up after going down 1-0 to the Eagles in the final.

Torino FC (ITA)
The Turin side were beaten UEFA Cup finalists in 1992. Coach Giampiero Ventura is set to make his European debut at the age of 66.

FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
Title holders Viktoria Plzeň came in as runners-up last term and were also pipped on penalties by their biggest rivals AC Sparta Praha in the Czech Cup final. 

BSC Young Boys (SUI)
While Young Boys are one of Switzerland's five most successful clubs, having won 11 league titles, the last time this happened was 1986.