Holders Spain meet Serbia in Euro Under-21 play-off

Netherlands will face Portugal and England take on Croatia in the two-legged ties, with the winners heading to the Czech Republic for the finals next June

Holders Spain must overcome Serbia in a two-legged play-off to reach the European Under-21 Championship finals in the Czech Republic next summer.

Albert Celades’ charges finished top of Group 4 in the preliminary phase of the competition, winning seven and drawing the other of their eight games, and Friday’s draw deemed their reward to be a clash with a Serbia side who finished second to Italy in Group 9.

But despite Radovan Curcic’s troops having failed to win their section, Celades insists they will be tough to beat.

“Serbia are one of the hardest opponents we could have faced – a team that were in a tough group with Italy and Belgium and had an impressive second-place finish,” he told uefa.com. “No doubt they will be very tough opponents.”

Elsewhere in the play-off draw, Netherlands face Portugal and England meet Croatia. Group 7 winners Sweden will play Group 10 kings France, while there is another meeting between two pool winners as Slovakia go up against Italy.