Beşiktaş to duel with Arsenal for place in Champions League group stage

The Black Eagles of Beşiktaş will face a daunting task in their effort to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in five seasons after they were paired with Arsenal in the competition’s playoff round.

Beşiktaş won plaudits for dispatching Feyenoord in the Champions League third qualifying round 5-2 on aggregate, but the side will be hard-pressed to qualify for the group stage against the London outfit, which has qualified for the continent’s premier club competition 17 consecutive seasons. Arsenal has also signaled its ambition this transfer window, bringing in France’s Mathieu Debuchy, Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina, as well as Alexis Sanchez, who starred for Chile at the World Cup.

To advance, Beşiktaş will rely on the talents of new signing Demba Ba, who scored a hat trick in the side’s second-leg, 3-1 win over Feyenoord earlier this week. The tie against Arsenal will provide a quick return for the Senegalese striker, who joined Beşiktaş earlier this summer after a spell at Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea.

In the 2009-10 season, the Black Eagles finished bottom of their group against Manchester United, Wolfsburg and CSKA Moscow, although the team notably beat the English giants 1-0 aways at Old Trafford. Beşiktaş was barred from European competition last year due to the 2010-11 match-fixing scandal.