Manchester United’s potential Champions League opponents confirmed

Manchester United will face one of five teams in the Champions League play-off this month.

Louis van Gaal’s side are top seeds ahead of Friday’s (7 August) draw at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon and will therefore be steered clear of Valencia, Bayer Leverkusen, Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Lisbon.

The quintet of clubs were all victorious in the third qualifying round this week. Serie A giants Lazio, who reached the quarter-final stages of the competition in 2000, pose the biggest threat to United’s passage into the group stages after their third place finish in Serie A last term.

CSKA Moscow frustrated Manchester City home and away in the Champions League group stages last season, defeating Manuel Pellegrini’s side at the Etihad after holding them to a 2-2 in Russian Federation. Former Untied starlet Ravel Morrison could feature against his former club, should Lazio be drawn against Van Gaal’s men.

Meanwhile, Monaco eliminated Arsenal at the Last-16 stage of the Champions League last season.

The other teams that United could play are CSKA Moscow, Rapid Vienna or Club Brugge. However, they ended up bottom of a tough pool and, domestically, finished runners-up to Zenit St Petersburg.

The Belgian side overturned a first-leg deficit to oust Panathinaikos from the competition, with goals from Dion Cools, Victor Vazquez and Obbi Oulare earning a 3-0 victory on the night and a 4-2 aggregate success.

United will find out their Champions League fate on Friday when the draw reveals who they will face in their all important play-off games during August.