Geneva: Arsenal and Porto are among the big clubs that will enter the Champions League qualifying campaign when the draw for the last-round playoffs is held Friday.
Arsenal, chasing a 17th straight group-stage campaign, and two-time European champion Porto are the highest-ranked teams in the 20-team draw.
They are seeded with Zenit St. Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli in the section for teams which are not national champions.
Their unseeded opponents are Athletic Bilbao, Lille, Copenhagen, Standard Liege and Besiktas. The two-leg playoffs are scheduled for Aug. 19-20 and Aug. 26-27.
In the champions section, 1986 European Cup winner Steaua Bucharest is seeded with Salzburg, APOEL, BATE Borisov and Ludogorets Razgrad.
Potential opponents are Maribor, Legia Warsaw, Slovan Bratislava, 1979 runner-up Malmo and Aalborg.
Playoff winners join the 22 clubs directly qualified for the group stage.
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