Arsenal have been handed a dreaded Champions League play-off draw against Italian side Udinese.
Arsene Wenger's men collapsed at the end of the last Barclays Premier League season to finish fourth and so face a qualifying tie to secure safe passage to the lucrative group stages for a 14th season.
The Gunners were seeded for Friday's draw in Nyon, and will face a two-legged fixture over August 16/17 and 23/24, which is sandwiched between some tough Barclays Premier League games against Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Even though Arsenal were one of the seeds, there was no fixture weighting, meaning the Gunners will play the first leg at Emirates Stadium.
Wenger, though, must serve a one-match touchline ban following UEFA disciplinary action in the wake of last season's second-round exit to Barcelona in the Nou Camp, after being charged with "inappropriate language" directed towards referee official Massimo Busacca.
The Swiss official had controversially shown Robin van Persie a second yellow card for shooting at goal just one second after he had blown the whistle for offside - the Dutch striker claimed he had not heard it due to the noise of the 95,000-plus crowd.
The 10-men of Arsenal, who had beaten Barcelona in the first leg, went on to lose 3-1 to crash out of Europe.
Midfielder Samir Nasri was also sanctioned by UEFA for his outburst at Busacca, and will not be available, nor will van Persie, whose suspension was carried over into Arsenal's next European tie.
Four-time European champions Bayern Munich were drawn against Swiss league runners-up FC Zurich, with the German outfit at home in the first leg.
"Swiss football has come a long way recently, and we'll have to be very cautious. But I think it's a manageable draw, and we have a very good chance of making it into the group phase," Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes told FCB.tv.
"It's good we don't have far to travel at this early stage of the season. We'd expect to have sufficient class to make it to the next round."
French giants Lyon, who reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2009-10, face a tough assignment against Russian outfit Rubin Kazan, while Dutch side FC Twente have equally testing tie against Portugal's Benfica.
Spanish outfit Villarreal are away to Denmark's Odense in their first-leg encounter, while Danish champions FC Copenhagen face Viktoria Plzen, who won the Czech league title for the first time in their history last season.
Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb face Swedish counterparts Malmo while Belarusian champions BATE Borisov meet Austrian title winners Sturm Graz.
The champions of Poland and Cyprus do battle as Wisla Krakow take on APOEL, while Israeli title winners Maccabi Haifa meet Belgian champions Genk.
Read more...
Arsene Wenger's men collapsed at the end of the last Barclays Premier League season to finish fourth and so face a qualifying tie to secure safe passage to the lucrative group stages for a 14th season.
The Gunners were seeded for Friday's draw in Nyon, and will face a two-legged fixture over August 16/17 and 23/24, which is sandwiched between some tough Barclays Premier League games against Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United.
Even though Arsenal were one of the seeds, there was no fixture weighting, meaning the Gunners will play the first leg at Emirates Stadium.
Wenger, though, must serve a one-match touchline ban following UEFA disciplinary action in the wake of last season's second-round exit to Barcelona in the Nou Camp, after being charged with "inappropriate language" directed towards referee official Massimo Busacca.
The Swiss official had controversially shown Robin van Persie a second yellow card for shooting at goal just one second after he had blown the whistle for offside - the Dutch striker claimed he had not heard it due to the noise of the 95,000-plus crowd.
The 10-men of Arsenal, who had beaten Barcelona in the first leg, went on to lose 3-1 to crash out of Europe.
Midfielder Samir Nasri was also sanctioned by UEFA for his outburst at Busacca, and will not be available, nor will van Persie, whose suspension was carried over into Arsenal's next European tie.
Four-time European champions Bayern Munich were drawn against Swiss league runners-up FC Zurich, with the German outfit at home in the first leg.
"Swiss football has come a long way recently, and we'll have to be very cautious. But I think it's a manageable draw, and we have a very good chance of making it into the group phase," Bayern head coach Jupp Heynckes told FCB.tv.
"It's good we don't have far to travel at this early stage of the season. We'd expect to have sufficient class to make it to the next round."
French giants Lyon, who reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2009-10, face a tough assignment against Russian outfit Rubin Kazan, while Dutch side FC Twente have equally testing tie against Portugal's Benfica.
Spanish outfit Villarreal are away to Denmark's Odense in their first-leg encounter, while Danish champions FC Copenhagen face Viktoria Plzen, who won the Czech league title for the first time in their history last season.
Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb face Swedish counterparts Malmo while Belarusian champions BATE Borisov meet Austrian title winners Sturm Graz.
The champions of Poland and Cyprus do battle as Wisla Krakow take on APOEL, while Israeli title winners Maccabi Haifa meet Belgian champions Genk.
Read more...
