Look Away Now Pardew!

Last updated : 09 August 2013 By Footy Mad - Editor

Arsenal have been drawn to face Turkish club Fenerbahce in the Champions League play-offs.
 
Champions League drawFree £10 bet on footballFenerbahce are awaiting a final ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over whether they will be allowed to go into the competition proper this season, having been banned from competing in Europe by UEFA for match-fixing in domestic competition.

They have challenged that ruling and a CAS verdict is due before the group stage draw is made, but home and away matches against Arsenal stand to go ahead before that decision arrives.

UEFA say 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 Barclays Premier League.

Celtic have been drawn against Shakhter Karagandy of Kazakhstan in what appears a favourable draw, travel notwithstanding, for Neil Lennon's team as they bid to reach the group stages.

Former European champions PSV Eindhoven and AC Milan will meet in a mouthwatering tie.

PSV, under Phillip Cocu, have undergone some major squad reconstruction this summer with the likes of Kevin Strootman, Dries Mertens, Erik Pieters and Jeremain Lens all leaving the Philips Stadion with Park Ji-sung, Stijn Schaars, Adam Maher and Jeffrey Bruma coming in.

Real Sociedad's reward for their impressive Primera Division campaign is a two-legged tie with French giants Lyon.

The San Sebastian club finished fourth last term but have since lost coach Philippe Montanier to Rennes and key midfielder Asier Illarramendi to Real Madrid.

Schalke meet Metalist Kharkiv while Zenit St Petersburg will be confident of seeing off Pacos Ferreira.

Swiss champions Basle, semi-finalists in the Europa League last season, meet Ludogorets Razgrad, Dinamo Zagreb take on Austria Vienna, Viktoria Plzen face Maribor and Legia Warsaw were paired with Steaua Bucharest.

Champions League draw
Play-Off Round

Dinamo Zagreb v FK Austria Vienna
Ludogorets v Basle
Plzen v Maribor
Shakhtyor Karaganda v Celtic
Steaua Bucuresti v Legia Warsaw
Lyon v Real Sociedad
Schalke 04 v FC Metalist Kharkiv
Pacos Ferreira v Zenit St Petersburg
PSV v AC Milan
Fenerbahce v Arsenal

Tottenham will begin their Europa League campaign against Dinamo Tbilisi in the play-off round.
 
Andre Villas-Boas' side, who reached the quarter-finals last season, were paired with the Georgians in the draw at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon.

Capital One Cup winners Swansea, who reached this stage with a 4-0 aggregate win over Swedish club Malmo in qualifying, will face Romanian side Petrolul Ploiesti.

Spurs made a sustained challenge in the competition eventually won by Chelsea last season, bowing out only penalties to Basle at the last-eight stage.

They had high hopes of qualifiying for the Champions League this time but finished fifth in the Barclays Premier League, a point behind fourth-placed Arsenal, to find themselves in Europe's second-tier event again.

Swansea are returning to European competition for the first time since 1991 and have already shown appetite with their destruction of Malmo. All four of their goals came in the first leg of the third-round qualifier at the Liberty Stadium.

Spurs were drawn away for the first leg of their tie against the Georgian double winners with Swansea initially hosting Ploiesti, although that could be subject to change.

The first legs are due to take place on August 22 with the return a week later.

Swansea and Spurs open their Premier League campaigns against Manchester United and Crystal Palace respectively on the weekend of August 17-18 and face each other the following week.

Victories for both sides in their Europa play-offs would earn them a place in the group stage alongside FA Cup winners Wigan.

Sevilla will face Polish side Slask Wroclaw in the play-off round as they attempt to make another push for silverware.

UEFA Cup winners in 2006 and 2007, Sevilla have since had Champions League experience, however they could only finish ninth in the Primera Division last term.

That proved enough to earn a place in the Europa League qualifying stages, due to Malaga and Rayo Vallecano being excluded from European competition and Copa del Rey winners Atletico Madrid earning a Champions League place.

Unai Emery's team saw off Mladost Podgorica 9-1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round and will take on a side that finished third in the Ekstraklasa last season, with Slask Wroclaw at home in the first leg on August 22 and Sevilla staging the return seven days later.

Dutch giants Feyenoord tackle Russians Kuban Krasnodar, while Serie A side Udinese play Czech team Slovan Liberec.

Other ties see Real Betis heading to the Czech Republic first to encounter FK Jablonec, while Stuttgart will also be on their travels on August 20 when they play Croatian side HNK Rijeka.

Eintracht Frankfurt will go up against Azerbaijani side Qarabag, while French outfit St Etienne play Denmark's Esbjerg.

Europa League draw
Play-Off Round

FC Kuban Krasnodar v Feyenoord
SV Zulte Waregem v APOEL FC
SK Rapid Wien v FC Dila Gori
Tromso IL v Besiktas JK
CS Pandurii Lignitul Targu Jiu v SC Braga
Apollon Limassol FC v OGC Nice
FC Aktobe v FC Dynamo Kyiv
Swansea City v FC Petrolul Ploiesti
Atromitos FC v AZ Alkmaar
FH Hafnarfjordur v KRC Genk
IF Elfsborg v FC Nordsjaelland
WKS Slask Wroclaw v Sevilla
FC Salzburg v VMFD Zalgiris
Qarabag FK v Eintracht Frankfurt
FC Minsk v R. Standard de Liege
FK Jablonec v Real Betis
HNK Rijeka v VfB Stuttgart
FC Chornomorets Odesa v KS Skenderbeu
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC v PAOK FC
FC St Gallen v FC Spartak Moskva
Molde FK v Rubin Kazan
FK Vojvodina v FC Sheriff
Trabzonspor AS v FK Kukesi
Esbjerg fB v AS Saint-Etienne
Grasshopper Club Zurich v Fiorentina
Maccabi Haifa FC v FC Astra
Udinese v FC Slovan Liberec
FC Dinamo Tbilisi v Tottenham Hotspur
Estoril Praia v FC Pasching
JK Nomme Kalju v FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
FK Partizan v FC Thun

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