Friday 8 August 2014

UCL play-off: Arsenal set Turkish test, reprieved Celtic face Maribor

Arsenal face Turkish side Besiktas and reprieved Celtic meet Slovenian
title-holders Maribor in the Champions League play-offs later this
month.

There was drama minutes before Friday's draw in Nyon when Polish club
Legia Warsaw, who had dished out a 6-1 third qualifying mauling to
Celtic, were ruled out.

Legia were demoted to the Europa League play-offs for fielding an
ineligible player.

Arsenal, meanwhile, must over overcome Besiktas to seal their 17th
consecutive appearance in the Champions League group stages.

Last season the Gunners saw off another Turkish club, Fenerbahce, to
go on to make it into the Last 16 where Arsene Wenger's side,
finalists in 2006, came a cropper against Bayern Munich.

In other match-ups, Lille take on 2004 winners FC Porto, Napoli come
up against Athletic Bilbao and Bayer Leverkusen play FC Copenhagen.

The first leg ties are scheduled for August 19/20, with the second leg
matches on August 26/27.

The ten winners will join the 22 teams automatically qualified for the
group stage, which gets underway in September.

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