Arsenal will play Fenerbahce in the Champions League play-off round.Arsene Wenger’s side were paired with the Turks at the draw in Switzerland, while Shakhter Karagandy of Kazakhstan stand between Celtic and a place in the group stage.
Arsenal’s draw is complicated by Fenerbahce’s ongoing battle to avoid expulsion from this season’s competition.
The Istanbul club were banned from European football for two seasons in June over the involvement of club officials in match-fixing and are currently awaiting a date at the Court of Arbitration of Sport, where they intend to fight the suspension.
A CAS (Court Of Arbitration Of Sport) decision is expected before the draw for the group stage is made on August 29, but in the meantime Fenerbahce will host Arsenal in the first leg of their play off on August 20 or 21 before the return leg in London the following week.
Celtic were in the half of the draw reserved for national champions and must travel to Kazakhstan for the first leg of their play-off.
Shakhter have come through two qualifying rounds to reach the final stage and count former group stage participants BATE Borisov of Belarus among their beaten opponents.Elsewhere the standout tie pairs PSV with Milan in a repeat of the 2005 semi-final.
Play-off draw – champions route
Dinamo Zagreb v Austria Vienna
Ludogorets Razgrad v Basel
Viktoria Plzen v Maribor
Shakhter Karagandy v Celtic
Steaua Bucharest v Legia Warsaw
Play-off draw – non-champions route
Lyon v Real Sociedad
Schalke v Metalist Kharkiv
Pacos de Ferreira v Zenit St Petersburg
PSV Eindhoven v Milan
Fenerbache v Arsenal
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