Arsenal given tough Italian challenge

Arsenal face Serie A side Udinese, while Bayern Munich are happy with their draw against the Swiss side FC Zurich.

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Arsenal must overcome Serie A opposition in the shape of Udinese if they are to make it to the Champions League group stages for the 14th successive season.

Arsene Wenger's team were pitted against the Italian side in the draw for the Champions league play-offs held at the Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, yesterday.

This will be a first ever meeting between Arsenal, the beaten finalists in 2006, and Udinese, who last made it into the group stage that same season.

Yesterday's draw also featured two previous winners of Europe's top club competition, with Bayern Munich facing the Swiss side FC Zurich and Portugal's Benfica up against Dutch league runners-up FC Twente.

Bayern have been crowned champions of Europe four times and their coach Jupp Heynckes said: "This is a game we can win and an interesting task. We have a great opportunity to move into the group stage."

But Heynckes said he would not be taking the Swiss team lightly.

"Swiss football is very strong," he said. "Last season, Zurich finished just one point behind Basel, that says a lot for the quality of the club."

He was relieved, however, to avoid being drawn against Russia's Rubin Kazan, saying: "That would have been a long trip for us".

The Russian team, who beat Barcelona 2-1 in the group stage two seasons ago, will not prove easy pickings for Lyon of France. Rubin booked their play-off place with a 4-1 aggregate qualifying win over Dynamo Kiev.

Malmo, who knocked out Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers in the third qualifying round this week, were rewarded with a matchup against the Croatian league champions Dinamo Zagreb.

Spain's Villarreal play the Danish side Odense, who have never reached the Champions League group stage but who booked their play-off ticket with a 5-4 aggregate win over Panathinaikos of Greece.

Arsenal are forced to go through the play-offs after their end of term collapse which resulted in a fourth-place finish in the Premier League last season. The first leg at their Emirates Stadium will be staged with Wenger serving a one-match touchline ban for using "inappropriate language" at the referee in Arsenal's second-round exit to Barcelona last season.

The official had shown Robin van Persie a second yellow card for shooting at goal just one second after he had blown the whistle for offside - the Dutch striker claimed he had not heard it due to the noise of the 95,000-plus crowd.

The 10 men of Arsenal, who had beaten Barcelona in the first leg, went on to lose 3-1 at the Nou Camp to crash out of Europe.

Samir Nasri, the midfielder, was also sanctioned by Uefa for his outburst at the referee, and will not be available, nor will van Persie, whose suspension was carried over into Arsenal's next European tie.

The first legs will be played on August 16/17 with the second legs on August 23/24.

The 10 play-off winners will then join the 22 automatically qualified teams for the group stage draw due to be staged in Monaco on August 25.