UEFA DRAW

@ELIUDM Arsenal must do battlE

When last season’s beaten Champions League finalists walk out at the Emirates Stadium on October 22, the scoreline will read Arsenal 0 Borussia Dortmund 0.

But away from the pitch, another scoreline will tell a very different story.

Reaching last season’s final at Wembley gave Jurgen Klopp the financial muscle to lavish £43million on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Sokratis.

Tough test: Arsene Wenger's Arsenal have been drawn with Marseille, Dortmund and Napoli

Target men: Arsenal will have to cope with Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain (left) and Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski

Reunited: Napoli manager Benitez will come up against Wenger once again

Charismatic: Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund, who finished runners-up last year, take on Arsenal

In all likelihood they will be up against Arsenal’s summer signings — Mathieu Flamini and Yaya Sanogo, two players acquired without spending so much as a penny on transfer fees.

That financial disparity sums up how cruel the Champions League draw has been to Arsenal, who have tough Group H games against Dortmund, Rafa Benitez’s Napoli and Marseille.

Against Napoli they will come up against Gonzalo Higuain, the £34m former Real Madrid forward they pursued all summer.

GROUP A

Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayer Leverkusen
Real Sociedad

GROUP B

Real Madrid
Juventus
Galatasaray
FC Copenhagen

GROUP C

Benfica
Paris Saint-Germain
Olympiakos
Anderlecht

GROUP D

Bayern Munich
CSKA Moscow
Manchester City
Viktoria Plzen

GROUP E

Chelsea
Schalke
Basle
Steaua Bucharest

GROUP F

Arsenal
Marseille
Borussia Dortmund
Napoli

GROUP G

Porto
Atletico Madrid
Zenit St Petersburg
Austria Vienna

GROUP H

Barcelona
AC Milan
Ajax
Celtic

Dortmund have got off to a flying start this season, responding to defeat in last May’s final against Bayern Munich by beating Pep Guardiola’s new team 4-2 in the Super Cup. They are formidable, having replaced the creativity of Mario Gotze in midfield with the £24m arrival of Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Up front Robert Lewandowski, who signed an improved contract to stay for one more season, has already scored three times.

Nightmare: Neil Lennon reacts as Celtic are drawn with Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax

Big names: Neymar (left) and Lionel Messi will both visit Glasgow with Barcelona

Famous night: Celtic beat Barcelona 2-1 in last year's Champions League in Glasgow

Back to Britain: AC Milan's Mario Balotelli will face Celtic

Wenger likes to get the job done early, to get 10 points ahead of schedule and make sure they are in December’s draw for the knockout stage.

But with Dortmund third and fourth on their schedule, it is likely to come down to the final games against Marseille at The Emirates on November 26 and Napoli away on December 11.

The previous night will see Manchester City return to Bayern’s magnificent Allianz Arena. So much has changed since that night in September 2011 when Carlos Tevez clashed with City’s combative former coach Roberto Mancini on the touchline.