'Arsenal will lose to Udinese’ - Goal.com experts give their opinions on who will qualify from the Champions League play-offs

There are 10 places still up for grabs in the group stages of Europe's premier club tournament, and Goal.com runs the rule over Friday's intriguing draw in Nyon

5 Aug 2011 14:01:00

More On :  APOEL, Arsenal FC, Copenhagen, FC BATE Borisov, FC Bayern München, FC Twente, FC Viktoria Plzeň, FC Zürich, Maccabi Haifa, Malmo FF, OB Odense, Olympique Lyonnais, Racing Genk, Rubin, Udinese, Udinese
UEFA Champions League trophy
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The 2011-12 Champions League play-off draw took place in Nyon on Friday morning, as we edge ever closer to identifying the 32 teams looking to emulate the achievements of holders Barcelona and lift the famous trophy in the Allianz Arena in May 2012.

Tuesday and Wednesday's third qualifying round completed the sides who were involved in Uefa's two-pronged draw, which offers a pair of separate routes to the promised land of the group stages.
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AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS
A total of 22 teams were entered directly into the group stages as a result of their position in their various domestic leagues in 2011-12:
Barcelona
Manchester United
AC Milan
Porto
Ajax
B. Dortmund
 Lille
Zenit
Shakhtar
Olympiacos
Basel
Fenerbahce
 Otelul Galati
Real Madrid
Chelsea
Inter
Leverkusen

 Marseille
CSKA Moscow
Valencia
Manchester City
Napoli
CHAMPIONS ROUTE
Ten league winners who have advanced from the third qualifying round progress directly into the champions route, and face off against one another in a bid to secure the five places up for grabs in the group stages.

Seeded teams denoted first



APOEL
Cypriot First League winners APOEL face some difficult opposition in the form of Ekstraklasa champions Wisla Krakow. Both sides won their respective leagues comfortably and ploughed through two qualifying rounds with multi-goal aggregate victories. The tie is rather even, but the Cypriots will have an advantage due to their balance at both ends of the pitch, as well as their recent record in qualifiers.
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Wisla Krakow
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Ailton (APOEL)
Andraz Kirm (Wisla)
 The Cypriots should edge through - just - over the two legs.




BATE Borisov
The Belarusians have a decent record in progressing through to the group stages, having done so in the 2008-09 season, though they will want to fashion a comfortable advantage at home before a tricky trip to the UPC Arena in the second leg. Previous rounds have seen them struggle against Linfield and Ekranas, so they will have to step up a gear to overcome opponents who have equally toiled to reach this phase.
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Sturm Graz
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Renan Bressan (BATE)
Roman Kienast (Sturm Graz)
 Though they've not hit top form this term, BATE have the know-how to negotiate such fixtures.




Copenhagen
Copenhagen will be positive about their chances of reaching the group stage again after being paired with Viktoria Plzen. The Czech side somewhat surprisingly eliminated Rosenborg in the third qualifying round, but haven't had the pleasure of playing Champions League football before.  Copenhagen, on the other hand, reached the round of 16 last year and managed to hold on to star players Mathias Jorgensen, Claudemir and Dame N’Doye.
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Viktoria Plzen
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Dame N'Doye (Copenhagen)
Pavel Horvath (Viktoria)
 Copenhagen should get a good result at home and successfully defend their lead.




D. Zagreb
Dinamo enter this tie as favourites against the side currently placed ninth in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Malmo only just defeated a Rangers side in transition and before that eliminated Faroe Islanders Torshavn. In contrast, Dinamo's league season is off to a flyer: two games played, two wins and no goals conceded. This Dinamo side contains some of the most promising talent Croatia has to offer in the shape of Mateo Kovacic and Sime Vrsaljko, and will be favourites.
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Malmo
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Sammir (Dinamo Zagreb)
Daniel Larsson (Malmo)
 Dinamo will justifiably expect to go through against their Swedish opponents.




Maccabi Haifa
After seeing off Maribor in the third qualifying round, Elisha Levy's side will have hoped for a more favourable draw in their bid to reach the group stage for the first time since 2009-10. The Jupiler League outfit will be favourites to progress having already beaten arguably stronger opposition in Partizan. Defender Anthony Vanden Borre finally gets his shot at a play-off, having been transferred after Fiorentina's qualification and then missing out with Genoa.
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Genk
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Eyal Meshumar (Maccabi Haifa)
Kevin De Bruyne (Genk)
 Genk will fancy their chances of reaching the group stages.

LEAGUE ROUTE
Finishing fourth in Europe's top three ranked nations - England, Spain and Italy - grants teams direct entry into the league route, where they are joined by third-placed sides from Germany and France, ranked fourth and fifth by Uefa. Another five teams, who did not win their respective domestic titles, enter into this area of the draw from the third qualifying round. Ten sides in total reach this stage, facing off in five two-legged matches.

Seeded teams denoted first



Arsenal
It's the draw Arsenal fans desperately wanted to avoid. Against the backdrop of protracted transfer sagas involving Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, plus supporter unrest at Arsene Wenger's lack of activity in the transfer window so far, and serious concerns over the fragility of the Gunners defence, Udinese should be licking their lips at the prospect. This is a bumper tie that Uefa president Michel Platini can point to as justification for the structural changes to his flagship competition.
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Udinese
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Gervinho (Arsenal)
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)
 Udinese to go through, albeit by a slender margin.




Bayern Munich
Of their five possible opponents, Zurich were among the least threatening to Bayern. However, the tie will be far from easy for the Germans, who in recent years have struggled in August and tend to have trouble in matches in which they are considered heavy favourites. Zurich finished just a point behind Basel in last year's Swiss Super League standings, however, Bayern have a far stronger squad on paper.
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Zurich
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Arjen Robben (Bayern)
Admir Mehmedi (Zurich)
 Bayern to triumph in both legs to progress to the group stages




Benfica
Benfica will not be entirely happy to have  been drawn against Twente as the Dutch side impressed in last year’s edition of the Champions League. Nevertheless, the Eredivisie outfit lost head coach Michel Preud’homme and star player Theo Janssen this summer. Additionally, Benfica have some good experience against Dutch opposition, as they beat PSV 6-3 on aggregate in last year’s quarter-final of the Europa League.
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Twente
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Axel Witsel (Benfica)
Bryan Ruiz (Twente)
 Benfica will look for a good result in Enschede, before clinching the tie in the second-leg.




Lyon
Lyon have been landed arguably the toughest draw possible; Rubin are notoriously tenacious and well-organised at this level. OL have not been able to strengthen greatly this summer, but their starting XI is experienced in Europe and should start as favourites. After Auxerre overcame Zenit St. Petersburg in last season’s France-Russia encounter at this stage, Remi Garde’s men will hope to once again claim victory for the western Europeans.
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Rubin Kazan
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Christian Noboa (Rubin)
 Lyon have enough quality and experience to come through a stiff challenge.




Villarreal
Villarreal take on Danish side Odense as they look to return to the Champions League after missing out for each of the last two seasons. The Yellow Submarine had failed to reach Europe's premier club competition since the departure of former coach Manuel Pellegrini, but should negotiate their qualifier to return to the big time. Another plus point for coach Juan Carlos Garrido sees his side play the second leg at home.
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Odense
PLAYERS TO WATCH: WHO WILL QUALIFY?
Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)
Peter Utaka (Odense)
 Villarreal should prove too strong for the Danes, and will be expected to ease through.

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