The draw for the preliminary rounds of the Champions league took place this morning and it through up an interesting battle between the ‘wally with the brolly’ and ‘Le Proffeseur’ as Arsenal drew FC Twente. The Dutch side who beat Ajax in a playoff at the end of last season to secure their Champions league berth are now managed by former England boss Steve McClaren who has a less than stellar record against the gunners. The last time McClaren pitted his wits against Wenger the ginger geordies Middlesbrough side were on the wrong end of a 7-0 drubbing.

Meanwhile Liverpool have drawn Belgian champions Standard Liege who will not be a rollover but the Reds will be thankfull of avoiding teams like Athletico Madrid and Galatasaray or of having a long haul trip to the outskirts of Europe or even the middle east as they did last season. Liege recently parted company with their manager the legendary Belgian goalkeeper Michel Preud’homme after a series of disputes with the board and have no recognisable names in their squad. Perhaps the most famous name is Wilfried Dalmat younger brother of former Inter star Stephane Dalmat.

The tie of the round sees German high fliers FC Schalke against a resurgent Athletico Madrid side who failed to receive a seeding due to Barcelonas involvement in the qualifying rounds. The full draw is as follows:

Anorthosis or Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos

Vitoria v IFK Gothenburg or FC Basle

Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale or Dinamo Zagreb

Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid

Aalborg or Modrica v Rangers or FBK Kaunas

Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem or Wislaw Krakow

Levski Sofia v Anderlecht or BATE Borisov

Standard Liege v Liverpool

Inter Baku or FK Partizan v Fenerbahce or MTK Budapest

FC Twente v Arsenal

Spartak Moscow v Drogheda or Dinamo Kiev

Juventus v Tampere United or FC Artmedia

SK Brann or Ventspils v Marseille

Fiorentina v Slavia Prague

Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest

Panathinaikos or Dinamo Tbilisi v FC Sheriff or Sparta Prague

Matches to be played on 12th/13th and 26th/27th of August.

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