Arsenal handed Celtic tie

07 August 2009 11:18
There is a battle of Britain in the UEFA Champions League play-off round after Celtic were drawn against Arsenal. The Champions League draw has changed this year. All the champions from a respective country go down one avenue called the 'Champions Route', whilst all the other teams are in entered in the 'Non-Champions Route'. Then each route is seeded and non-seeded, and that has seen Celtic - who were non-seeded - drawn against seeded Arsenal. The first-leg will take place in Glasgow, before the return at Emirates. It is the first time ever Arsenal and Celtic will have met in a competitive fixture. The non-champions route is littered with big clubs looking to make the group stages. Champions League stalwarts Lyon must overcome Anderlecht, whilst Sporting Lisbon will tackle Fiorentina over two legs. Atletico Madrid will be looking for a second straight year in the group stages and they will clash with Panathinaikos for the right. Germans Stuttgart look to have been handed the most favourable draw as they will come up against Romanian side Timisoara - who knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk in the last round. The Champions Route sees Olympiakos handed a tie with Moldova's Sheriff Tiraspol. Latvian champions Ventspils are hoping to book a place in the group stages for the first time and they will need to overcome Swiss champions FC Zurich. Danes FC Copenhagen face APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus, whilst Hungarian's Debrecen are up against Bulgarian champions Levski Sofia. Finally, Austrian champions FC Salzburg face Israel's Maccabi Haifa. Champions League play-off round draw in full Non-Champions Route Lyon v Anderlecht Celtic v Arsenal Timisoara v Stuttgart Sporting Lisbon vFiorentina Panathinaikos v Atletico Madrid Champions Route Sheriff Miraspol vOlympiakos FC Salzburg v Maccabi Haifa FK Ventspils v FC Zurich FC Copenhaegn v APOEL Nicosia Levski Sofia v Debrecen

Source: SKY_Sports