Turkish trepidation for Arsenal

By virtue of finishing fourth in the Barclays Premier League, Arsenal are forced to go through the Champions League play-offs to qualify for the group stages of the competition and they will face a tricky tie against Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

By virtue of finishing fourth in the Barclays Premier League, Arsenal are forced to go through the Champions League play-offs to qualify for the group stages of the competition and they will face a tricky tie against Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

The Gunners will first play away of August 20th or 21st before the return leg at the Emirates a week later. A win over the two leg tie will be critical for Arsene Wenger’s team as most fans have been unimpressed with the lack of big name signings despite the announcement of a large transfer kitty months ago.

Another mouth-watering clash in the play-off stages is the one between PSV Eindhoven and AC Milan. Milan will be favourites to progress but will have to prove themselves against a classy Dutch outfit. Milan have been champions of Europe on seven different occasions. 

The full Champions League play-off draw is as follows:

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

Ties to be played 20/21 and 27/28 August