The Scottish league winner was beaten 6-1 on aggregate by Polands Legia Warsaw in the previous round but the Polish club was punished for fielding an ineligible player. Bartosz Bereszynski, who came on as an 86th-minute substitute as Legia won the second leg 2-0 at Murrayfield on Thursday (AEST), was suspended after a red card for violent conduct in last seasons UEFA Europa League. Hours before the draw for the next round was to be made, UEFA announced that Celtic had been awarded a 3-0 win in the second leg and therefore qualified on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate result. Celtic reached the group stages last season but failed to progress from an extremely tough pool that also included AC Milan, Barcelona and Ajax. Arsenal will meet Turkish side Besiktas in the two-legged playoff. Arsene Wengers side, which finished fourth in the Premier League last season, will travel to Istanbul for the first match in the week beginning 18 August, with the home leg taking place the following week. Arsenal has never previously met Besiktas in any European competition. Napoli of Italy has drawn Athletic Bilbao of Spain. The full Champions League playoff draw: Besiktas (Turkey) v Arsenal (England) Standard Liège (Belgium) v FC Zenit (Russia) FC Kobenhavn (Denmark) v Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) Lille (France) v FC Porto (Portugal) Napoli (Italy) v Athletic Club (Spain) Maribor (Slovenia) v Celtic (Scotland) Salzburg (Austria) v Malmo (Sweden) Aalborg (Denmark) v APOEL (Cyprus) Steaua Bucuresti (Romania) v Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria) Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) v FC BATE Borisov (Bulgaria) The 10 winners of the playoff round ties join 22 automatic entrants in the group stage draw in Monaco on 28 August. The 10 losers go into the UEFA Europa League group stage.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 12:11:26 +0000