Gunners draw Udinese

Arsenal were today handed a 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 today’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.

Draw for the Champions League play-off round:

Wisla Krakow v APOEL

Maccabi Haifa v Genk

Dinamo Zagreb v Malmo

FC Copenhagen v Plzen

BATE Borisov v Sturm Graz

Odense BK v Villarreal

FC Twente v Benfica

Arsenal v Udinese

Bayern Munich v Zurich

Lyon v Rubin Kazan

First legs to be played on August 16/17 with the return fixtures scheduled for August 23/24.