Tough draw worries Wenger

Arsene Wenger: Dealt a tough hand

14 April 2012

Arsenal will face a huge amount of travelling and the Italian threat of Christian Vieri, the striker Chelsea tried to buy for £20million, in the first round of the Champions League after they were paired with Ukrainia's Dynamo Kiev and Lokomotiv Moscow and Inter Milan.

Arsene Wenger - whose side will start the campaign at home to Inter - described the draw as "a very difficult one" despite Arsenal being the top seeds.

He said: "As well as the quality of the teams, there is a lot of travel involved to two east European countries in Russia and Ukraine.

"There is a four-hour time difference and that can play a part in preparation and recovery.

"Obviously, Inter Milan are the name that everyone knows and they were semi-finalists last season."

When it was pointed out that they had just sold prize asset Hernan Crespo to Chelsea for £16.8million as part of the Roman Abramovich revolution, Wenger smiled and said: "Hopefully, before Sunday, he will buy a few more of their players! That would be a help."

Dennis Bergkamp's reluctance to fly is likely to rule him out of the away clashes against Kiev in the Ukraine and Russian side Lokomotiv - and will also raise question marks about his participation in the Gunners' clash against his former club at the San Siro.

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein said: "The Inter game is very exciting and a big test. As for the travelling, well it will be great for the Air Miles and the Bergkamp situation is nothing new. The club have never progressed beyond the quarter-finals and our determination is to go all the way."

Manchester United were drawn against Rangers as they enter their eighth successive top-flight European campaign.

The Premiership champions will take on their counterparts from Scotland after Alex McLeish's side won their two-legged qualifier against Copenhagen following a 2-1 victory in Denmark last night.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side have also been pitted against Panathinaikos and Stuttgart in Group E after the draw in Monaco this afternoon.

United's chief executive Peter Kenyon said: "There is no such thing as an easy draw but the Rangers match is the one that has excited everyone at Old Trafford.

"That is the highlight but we have great experience in the competition. Over all we have got to be happy with the draw and our players can't wait to get started. Experience will count and our experience is second to none. The knock out format makes every game a massive one."

Rangers chairman John McClelland was delighted with his side's draw, especially as his side only qualified with victory over FC Copenhagen last night.

McClelland said: "I'm very excited about it. Yesterday we didn't know whether we would be in the Champions League, today we are and we've got Manchester United.

"It is something for the fans to look forward to and people in the UK in general." Celtic's biggest challenge in the Champions League is likely to come from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The Parkhead side will also play Lyon and Anderlecht in the group stage of the competition, giving them a reasonable chance of progression.

UEFA have scrapped the second group stage of the Champions League and the top two in each group will go into a last-16 knockout with a side who finishes on top of a group paired with another runnerup.

The teams that finish third in a group will drop down into the UEFA Cup.

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