Champions League draw: Arsenal and Celtic to learn fate

07 August 2009 10:41
The first leg, which will take place at Celtic Park on either Aug 18/19, will see the two clubs go up against each other for the first time in European competition. The second leg at the Emirates will be played on either Aug 25/26. In other ties, Sporting Lisbon, who finished runners-up to Porto in the Portuguese league last season, will face Serie A side Fiorentina. Greek team Panathinaikos will face Spanish giants Atletico Madrid while German side Stuttgart will travel away to FC Timisoara of Romania in the first leg of their play-off. The other tie sees Anderlecht taking on French side Lyon. Meanwhile there were some unpredictable match-ups from the 'Champions group' draw. Greek champions Olympiakos will play their first of their two legs against FC Sheriff in Romania, while Austrian champions Salzburg will host Israeli counterparts Maccabi Haifa. In the first leg champions Ventspils, bidding to become the first Latvian side in the group stages, will host Swiss counterparts Zurich. Danish champions Copenhagen host Apoel Nicosia of Cyprus in the first leg while Bulgarian title-winners Levski Sofia host Hungarian champions Debrecen. Draw for the European Champions League playoff round: Non-champions path Lyon v Anderlecht Celtic v Arsenal Timisoara v Stuttgart Sporting Lisbon v Fiorentina Panathinaikos v Atletico Madrid Champions path Sheriff v Olympiakos Salzburg v Maccabi Haifa Ventspils v Zurich Copenhagen v APOEL Levski Sofia v Debreceni First leg ties to be played on Aug 18/19; second leg ties on Aug 25/26.

Source: Telegraph