Champions League 2011/12: and now for something different

[Toronto Gooner]

Well, this season is over. Just for the fun of it, here are the teams for the non-champions section of the CL qualifiers.

Teams in third qualifying round:
Rubin Kazan (63)
Twente (44)
Zurich (84)
Dynamo Kyiv (28)
Trabzonspor (129)
Standard Liega (66)
Politechnica Timisoara (?)
Panathinaikos (32)
Odense (127)
Benfica (17)


Five of these teams will then go into the draw for the knock-out round, with these five teams:
Arsenal (9)
Udinese (64)
Lyon (12)
Villarreal (19)
Bayern Munich (6)

I have added the UEFA rankings which will determine seedings. From what I gather, Arsenal cannot be drawn against Lyon and Munich. Depending on who wins in the third round, Villarreal and Udinese might be possible opponents.

[Özim]

Interesting to see Munich are now higher ranked than we are, we're now 9th.

Don't think their should be any rankings in the stage to be honest, if you don't qualify outright you should just play whoever you're drawn against rather than be kept away from other top sides.

Ideally though you'd want to stay away from the likes of Rubin Kazan, Benfica and Villareal.

We really have made a mess of this season by somehow ending up 4th.

[Cripps_orig]

I can see us beating any of those teams.

Can also see us losing to them though.

Depends on which Arsenal turns up

[Toronto Gooner]

Interesting to see Munich are now higher ranked than we are, we're now 9th.

Don't think their should be any rankings in the stage to be honest, if you don't qualify outright you should just play whoever you're drawn against rather than be kept away from other top sides.

Ideally though you'd want to stay away from the likes of Rubin Kazan, Benfica and Villareal.

We really have made a mess of this season by somehow ending up 4th.

The seedings are there to ensure that teams like Arsenal and Bayern Munich are not drawn together in the qualifying stage. The reason why Bayern are above Arsenal is because Arsenal's CL Final appearance is no longer factored into the ranking points, whereas Bayern were beaten finalists last season.

If Benfica win through to the knockout stage, they will be one of the five seeded and Arsenal cannot be drawn against them. The same with Villarreal.

[Özim]

The seedings are there to ensure that teams like Arsenal and Bayern Munich are not drawn together in the qualifying stage. The reason why Bayern are above Arsenal is because Arsenal's CL Final appearance is no longer factored into the ranking points, whereas Bayern were beaten finalists last season.

If Benfica win through to the knockout stage, they will be one of the five seeded and Arsenal cannot be drawn against them. The same with Villarreal.

Oh yeah I understand that, just think it's a nonsense aimed at making it easier for the big clubs once again.

I don't even think 4th place should even get a shot at the CL personally.

[Niall_Quinn]

Oh yeah I understand that, just think it's a nonsense aimed at making it easier for the big clubs once again.

I don't even think 4th place should even get a shot at the CL personally.

I don't think 2nd place sould get a shot. Why the hell do they call it the Champion's League anyway? Stupid name which in no way describes the competition.

[Toronto Gooner]

I don't think 2nd place sould get a shot. Why the hell do they call it the Champion's League anyway? Stupid name which in no way describes the competition.

Take away the opportunity for the top teams to play in this competition and watch how quickly the European Super League is established.

[Marc Overmars]

Oh yeah I understand that, just think it's a nonsense aimed at making it easier for the big clubs once again.

I don't even think 4th place should even get a shot at the CL personally.

Goes without saying, no way should 4th be a qualifying spot.

[Cripps_orig]

Our possible Champions League opponents }

Arsenal's fourth-place finish in the Premier League means they will enter next season's Champions League in the Play-Off Round.

Arsène Wenger's side must win a two-legged tie to take their place in the Group Stage.

The draw for the Play-Off Round is on August 5 and the matches will be played either side of the second weekend of the Premier League campaign - the first leg is scheduled for August 16 or 17 with the second leg on August 23 or 24.

It's also worth noting that the draw is 'open' so Arsenal could be home or away in the first leg.

Possible opponents
So who could Arsenal face in the Champions League Play-Off? This is where it gets more complicated.

There will be 20 teams in the Play-Off Round but they are split into two sections - champions and non-champions. As non-champions, Arsenal cannot face a side that won its domestic title in 2010/11. That list includes Dinamo Zagreb plus Rangers and FC Copenhagen, assuming they are still in the competition at that stage.

Arsenal's section of ten teams will feature:

• The five winners from the non-champion section of the Third Qualifying Round:

In the Third Qualifying Round, Standard Liege (Belgium), Benfica (Portugal), Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Twente (Holland) and Panathinaikos (Greece) are seeded to face Rubin Kazan (Russia), FC Zürich (Switzerland), Odense (Denmark), Trabzonspor (Turkey) and FC Timisoara (Romania)

The remaining four teams in Arsenal's section will come from:

• <li class="bullet-arrow-silver">The fourth placed team from Spain (Villarreal) <li class="bullet-arrow-silver">The fourth placed team from Italy (Udinese) <li class="bullet-arrow-silver">The third placed team from Germany (Bayern Munich)
• The third placed team from France (Lyon)

Once the ten clubs are confirmed, the five with the highest UEFA coefficients are seeded and will be drawn to play one of the five clubs with the lowest UEFA coefficients.

Arsenal's coefficient is bettered only by Bayern Munich in the list of potential teams in the Play-Off Round so Wenger’s side would definitely be seeded.

As it stands, if all the seeded teams from the Third Qualifying Round advance to the Play-Off Round, Bayern, Arsenal, Lyon, Benfica and Villarreal would be seeded.

In that scenario, Arsenal’s potential Play-Off opponents are Dynamo Kyiv, Udinese, Panathinaikos, Twente or Standard Liege.

We'll update this page as the picture becomes clearer ahead of the draw for the Play-Off Round on August 5.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-arc...-finish-fourth-

Twente or Liege please