Europa League runners-up Freiburg lie in wait for Well

Freiburg had to make do with being runners-up last season [Getty Images] Last season's Europa League finalists Freiburg are probably the last team Motherwell wanted to see being picked out the pot in Monday's Conference League play-off draw. The Fir Park side have to defeat HJK Helsinki first, but whoever wins between they and the Finns will be underdogs to progress to the league stage. Alfred Johansson's side did avoid Atalanta of Italy and the winner of the tie between Greek side Panathinaikos and Bulgaria's CSKA. And, with Austria's Rapid Vienna likely to progress against Paide Linnameeskond of Estonia and St Gallen of Switzerland probably favourites against Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova, there was unlikely to be an easy tie. But Freiburg showed their pedigree in only their seventh European campaign as they finished seventh in the Europa League before beating Genk, Celta Vigo and Braga to reach the final, where they lost 3-0 to a John McGinn-inspired Aston Villa. Former Freiburg midfielder Julian Schuster's side qualified directly to the Conference League play-off round this season courtesy of their seventh-place finish in the Bundesliga. There are not many household names in his squad, but centre-backs Matthias Ginter, formerly of Borussia Dortmund, and Philipp Lienhart have caps for Germany and Austria respectively. Goalkeeper Mio Backhaus has, though, been signed for a reported £10.3m from Werder Bremen and striker Keisuke Goto from Anderlecht for £8.6m - the kind of transfer fees Motherwell can only dream of. Meanwhile, Thursday's opponents, HJK, are in action on Monday against SJK in the Veikkausliiga, where they sit fourth after 18 games, as they seek a fifth consecutive win after beating Northern Ireland's Coleraine 3-0 on Thursday for an 8-0 aggregate score.