Arsenal on Friday drew Fenerbahce in the UEFA Champions League playoffs, even though the Turkish club is awaiting a final ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport over whether it will beallowed to enter the competition this season, after UEFA banned the club from competing in Europe after it was found guilty of match-fixing in Turkey.
Fener responded to UEFA’s ban bychallenging its ruling with the CAS and a verdict is due before the group stage is made, although Europe’s governing body said no decision had yet been made regarding what would happen if theTurkish giant wins its two-leg series against the Gunners.
The other marquee match-up set up by Friday’s draw sees former European champion PSV Eindhoven meet seven-time champion ACMilan. Elsewhere, Scottish champion Celtic faces a long trip to Kazakhstan to play Shakhtar Karagandy, while Spain’s fourth-placed team Real Sociedad will play French giant Lyon.