adminPARIS. − English Premier League soccer side Arsenal were handed a tricky tie against Turkish giants Fenerbahce in the Champions League play-off round after the draw was made yesterday at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon.The Gunners, who reached the 2006 final where they lost 2-1 to Barcelona, will travel to Istanbul for the first leg to be played August 20-21 before returning to London for the second leg, scheduled for August 27-28.
Arsenal’s draw is complicated by Fenerbahce’s ongoing battle to avoid expulsion from this season’s competition.
The Istanbul club were banned from European football for two seasons in June over the involvement of club officials in match-fixing and are currently awaiting a date at the Court of Arbitration of Sport, where they intend to fight the suspension.
A CAS decision is expected before the draw for the group stage is made on August 29, but in the meantime Fenerbahce will host Arsenal in the first leg of their play-off on August 20 or 21 before the return leg in London the following week.
No decision has yet been made on what would happen if Fenerbahce were to beat Arsenal and subsequently lose their appeal.
Uefa yesterday said no decision has yet been made regarding what would happen in the event of Fenerbahce winning the tie and losing their CAS appeal.
Fenerbahce finished second in the Turkish Super Lig last season, while Arsenal took fourth place in the Premier League.
Celtic, meanwhile, were in the half of the draw reserved for national champions and must travel to Kazakhstan for the first leg of their play-off.
Shakhter have come through two qualifying rounds to reach the final stage and count former group stage participants BATE Borisov of Belarus among their beaten opponents.
Elsewhere, the standout tie pairs PSV with AC Milan in a repeat of the 2005 semi-final.
Tottenham have been drawn away to Georgian outfit Dinamo Tbilisi in the first-leg of the Europa League play-off tie for a place in the main draw.
Spurs, who lost on penalties to Basel in the quarter-finals of last year’s competition, met Tbilisi in the 1973-74 Uefa Cup, drawing 1-1 away and winning 5-1 at White Hart Lane.
League Cup winners Swansea, returning to European competition for the first time since 1991, secured a place in the play-off with a 4-0 aggregate win over Malmo and were drawn at home against Romanians Petrolul Ploiesti.
The ties will be played on August 22 and 29 with the main draw for the group stages, featuring FA Cup winners Wigan, on August 30.
Fenerbahce appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after they and compatriots Besiktas were punished by European governing body Uefa.
Cas say a final decision will be made by August 28, which could be the date of the second leg of the play-off, but Uefa have said no decision has yet been made regarding what would happen in the event of Fenerbahce winning the tie against Arsenal and losing their appeal.
The teams met in Group G of the competition in 2008-9 with Arsenal winning 5-2 in Turkey and the return at the Emirates finishing goalless.
Celtic’s opponents Shakhter Karagandy have won the Kazakhstan Premier League for the last two seasons.
They were beaten in their first Champions League match, a second qualifying round encounter with Slovan Liberec last term, and lost 3-2 on aggregate to Irish side St Patrick’s Athletic in the Europa League second qualifying round the season before. − AFP.
Play-off draw – champions route
Dinamo Zagreb v Austria Vienna
Ludogorets Razgrad v Basel
Viktoria Plzen v Maribor
Shakhter Karagandy v Celtic
Steaua Bucharest v Legia Warsaw
Play-off draw – non-champions route
Lyon v Real Sociedad
Schalke v Metalist Kharkiv
Pacos de Ferreira v Zenit St Petersburg
PSV Eindhoven v Milan
Fenerbahce v Arsenal
Draw for the Europa League play-off round
Kuban Krasnodar (RUS) v Feyenoord (NED)
Apollon Limassol (CYP) v Nice (FRA)
IF Elfsborg (SWE) v Nordsjaelland (DEN)
Jablonec (CZE) v Real Betis (ESP)
Molde (NOR) v Rubin Kazan (RUS)
Zulte Waregem (BEL) v APOEL (CYP)
FC Aktobe (KAZ) v Dynamo Kiev (UKR)
Slask Wroclaw (POL) v Sevilla (ESP)
Rijeka (CRO) v VfB Stuttgart (GER)
Vojvodina (SRB) v Sheriff (MDA)
Rapid Vienna (AUT) v Dila Gori (GEO)
Swansea City (ENG) v Petrolul Ploiesti (ROM)
FC Salzburg (AUT) v Zalgiris (LTU)
Chornomorets Odessa (UKR) v Skenderbeu (ALB)
Trabzonspor (TUR) v FK Kukesi (ALB)
Tromso (NOR) v Besiktas (TUR)
Atromitos (GRE) v AZ Alkmaar (NED)
Qarabag (AZE) v Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) v PAOK (GRE)
Esbjerg (DEN) v Saint-Etienne (FRA)
FC Minsk (BLR) v Standard Liege (BEL)
Pandurii (ROM) v SC Braga (POR)
FH Hafnarfjordur (ISL) v Genk (BEL)
St Gallen (SUI) v Spartak Moscow (RUS)
Grasshopper Zurich (SUI) v Fiorentina (ITA)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR) v Astra (ROM)
Udinese (ITA) v Slovan Liberec (CZE)
Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO) v Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
Estoril (POR) v FC Pasching (AUT)
Nomme Kalju (EST) v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (UKR)
Partizan Belgrade (SRB) v FC Thun (SUI)
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