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Napoli, Athletic Bilbao to go head to head in Champions League playoff

Napoli are drawn against Athletic Bilbao in the playoff round of the Champions League.

The Champions League playoff round has drawn up an interesting tie between Napoli and Athletic Bilbao.

The third-placed Serie A side from last season, who are led by manager Rafael Benitez, will face the Spanish team for the first time in a competitive fixture.

The duo will fight for a place in the group phase of the elite competition, with Napoli welcoming Bilbao to San Paolo on August 19/20 and then flying to Spain for the return leg a week later.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have been drawn against Turkish side Besiktas, while Celtic will face Maribor after they were reinstated into the competition after Legia Warsaw were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player in the qualifying round.

Champions League playoff draw in full:

League Route

Besiktas vs. Arsenal
Standard Liege vs. Zenit St Petersburg
FC Copenhagen vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Lille vs. Porto
Napoli vs. Athletic Bilbao

Champions Route

Maribor vs. Celtic
Salzburg vs. Malmo
Aalborg vs. APOEL Nicosia
Steaua Bucharest vs. Ludogorets
Slovan Bratislava vs. BATE Borisov

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Written by
Danielle Joynson
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Belgium's midfielder Marouane Fellaini celebrates after scoring during a Group H football match between Belgium and Algeria on June 17, 2014
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Napoli22172337152253
2Inter Milan21155155183750
3Atalanta BCAtalanta23145449262347
4Juventus23913139201940
5Fiorentina22116537231439
6Lazio2212373830839
7Bologna2291033527837
8AC Milan219753223934
9Roma228683328530
10Udinese2385102836-829
11Torino236982427-327
12Genoa236892132-1126
13Hellas VeronaHellas Verona2372142648-2223
14Lecce2365121841-2323
15Como2357112738-1122
16Empoli2349102233-1121
17CagliariCagliari2256112336-1321
18Parma2348112942-1320
19VeneziaVenezia2337132238-1616
20Monza2327142034-1413


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