The Champions League Draw Celtic and Arsenal Didn't Want

It was the draw Arsene Wenger and Tony Mowbray were dreading. An all-British play-off tie between Arsenal and Celtic later this month to reach the Champions League group stages.

After the Hoops' magnificent victory in Moscow in midweek it's a draw which will have brought Mowbray and his men back down to earth with a bump.

Celtic made history on Wednesday night as they recovered from a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Dinamo Moscow to progress 2-1 on aggregate thanks to an impressive 2-0 away triumph.

The Hoops had never won a European tie after losing the first game at Parkhead and they were notably buoyant after their success in Russia, but their next test is the most difficult Mowbray's men could have landed.

Lyon, Stuttgart, Sporting Lisbon, and Panathinaikos were all potential opponents for Celtic.

It is the first time the two clubs will have met in European competition and the prize will be a path to the lucrative stage of the competition.

The first leg will take place at Celtic Park on August 18 or 19, days after both sides begin their league campaigns, with the return a week later.

Arsenal will go into the two-legged knock-out, which will bring back memories of Manchester United's recent battles with Celtic and Rangers' historic tussles with Leeds, as the 1/3 favourites to progress, but boss Wenger will be cursing his bad luck over the draw.

The clash not only represents a mighty difficult obstacle, but Wenger has already spoken about his concerns over his side's fixture congestion with a squad which has been recently trimmed down.

Wenger said: "What is tricky is we have an international friendly on the 12th, France plays an official game, Croatia plays an official game.

"Then we play on the 15th, the 19th, the 22nd, at Manchester United, then again on the 25th, the second leg of the Champions League.

"It is a very heavy schedule, and that is why I have to find the right balance in every game and to have no injuries is important."

Champions League betting on this one could be very interesting.