Arsenal to face Udinese of Serie A in Champions League play-off round

The cost of Arsenal's dramatic slump towards the end of last season became apparent on Friday, when Arsène Wenger's side were given an awkward draw against the Italian club Udinese in the Champions League play-off round. Udinese, who finished fourth in Serie A last season, will travel to London for the first leg on 16 or 17 August; the return will be at Stadio Friuli a week later. That second fixture is sandwiched between Premier League games at home to Liverpool and away to Manchester United. Wenger will be relieved not to have to face the Russian side Rubin Kazan – who drew Lyon. While Francesco Guidolin's Udinese have undergone something of a revamp over the summer, selling Alexis Sánchez to Barcelona, Cristián Zapata to Villarreal and Gokhan Inler to Napoli, they still have the prolific Antonio Di Natale up front – the 33-year-old has scored 57 goals in the last two seasons – and the excellent Samir Handanovic, a player who has attracted interest from Arsenal in the past, in goal. Pablo Armero, Mauricio Isla and Kwadwo Asamoah are combative midfielders. Arsenal were seeded in Friday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland, though their chances against the Italians will not be helped by the fact that Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie will be suspended from the first leg. Wenger will be absent from the touchline for that game at the Emirates Stadium, following a Uefa charge over "inappropriate language" directed at the referee Massimo Busacca after the controversial defeat by Barcelona in last season's Champions League. It remains to be seen whether Cesc Fábregas will play against Udinese. Any involvement would see him cup-tied for the season and could thus affect Barcelona's attempts to sign him. Arsenal were reported to have turned down a new bid from the Catalan club on Friday. Champions League play-off round draw Champions route Wisla Krakow v Apoel Maccabi Haifa v Genk Dinamo Zagreb v Malmo FC Copenhagen v Viktoria Plzen Bate Borisov v Sturm Graz League route Odense v Villarreal FC Twente v Benfica Arsenal v Udinese Bayern Munich v Zurich Lyon v Rubin Kazan