UEFA Champions League playoff draw announced

By Andrew Coppens | Aug 8, 2014

Controversy has already reared its ugly head before we’ve even reached the Champions League group stage. Celtic went down to Legia Warsaw 6-1 in its 3rd qualifying round tie, but the Polish outfit were deemed to have played an ineligible player and the Scottish side have replaced them in the next round of the Champions League (for now).

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That decision came down on Friday morning ahead of the Champions League playoff draw, one that saw a few very interesting matchups take place.

Celtic got a favorable draw, taking on NK Maribor of Slovenia, while English giants Arsenal also got a favorable draw against Besiktas of Turkey in the final qualifying round before the group stages.

The London club could’ve seen much more difficult matches against the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Lille , FC Copenhagen or Standard Liege. However, a trip to Turkey is never an easy proposition for English clubs given the history between the two countries in soccer.

Arsenal club secretary David Miles seemed to like the way the draw played out, with the second leg being played at home.

"“It’s nice we have got the second leg at home. They (the playoff ties) come relatively early in the season, and our three German World Cup winners won’t even be back, or will be just starting training then, so probably we won’t have the full squad to choose from, Nevertheless, we’ve got a good squad, quality in depth and I’m sure will be okay.”"

Perhaps the best playoff round tie will be between French side Lille and Portuguese side Porto.

Here is the full Champions League playoff draw:

Maribor vs Celtic

Red Bull Salzburg vs Malmo

Aalborg vs APOEL

Steaua Bucharest vs Ludogoret

Slovan Bratislava vs BATE

Besiktas vs Arsenal

Standard Liege vs Zenit

Copenhagen vs Bayer Leverkusen

Lille vs Porto

Napoli vs Athletic Bilbao

*All ties will be played on the 19th/20th and 26th/27th of August.

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