Who will Arsenal face in the Champions League play-off? One for Gunners to avoid as Bilbao lurk
Arsenal’s hopes of reaching the Champions League proper suffered a potential setback last night as Athletic Bilbao slipped into the pot of teams which the Gunners could draw in the group stage play-off.
Arsene Wenger’s side, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, will enter the draw as one of the seeded teams alongside Porto, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli and now Zenit St. Petersburg.
Bilbao were facing the same billing until Zenit St. Petersburg, managed by former Tottenham Hotspur boss Andre Villas-Boas, overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit to knock out AEL Limassol yesterday.
This means the Spanish side will enter the unseeded pot for tomorrow’s draw alongside French side Lille, Standard Liege, FC Copenhagen and Turkish outfit Besiktas.
Bilbao look the team most likely to cause Arsenal problems in a two-legged clash, with tension-filled matches an unwanted distraction following their opening Premier League fixture at home to Crystal Palace and ahead of tricky away trips to Everton and Leicester City in the first weeks of the season.
Los Leones finished fourth in La Liga last season and have recent pedigree on English soil having claimed a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford en route to eliminating Manchester United from the 2012 Europa League.
Scottish champions Celtic, meanwhile, crashed out of the third qualifying round last night after losing 2-0 to Polish outfit Legia Warsaw at Murrayfield.
The 6-1 aggregate defeat ended hopes of a third successive Champions League campaign, as goals from Michal Zyro and Michal Kucharczyk sealed their fate.
Failure to reach the group stages is a major disappointment for new manager Ronny Delia after predecessor Neil Lennon guided the Bhoys to the last-16 of the competition two seasons ago and the groups stages last term.
The absence of Champions League football is a massive financial blow to the club also, with the lack of European matches perhaps having wider implications and increasing the likelihood of star players Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk seeking pastures new and departing Parkhead.
PLAY-OFF DRAW
Seeded teams
■ Arsenal
■ Porto
■ Zenit St Petersburg
■ Bayer Leverkusen
■ Napoli
Unseeded teams
■ Athletic Bilbao
■ Lille
■ Standard Liege
■ FC Copenhagen
■ Besiktas