Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insisted on Friday that his side should not have to play their Champions League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa in war-torn Israel.
Benitez's men were paired against Maccabi in Friday's draw for the third qualifying round of the competition and are scheduled to play the second leg of the tie in Israel on Aug. 22 or Aug. 23.
However, the ongoing cross-border conflict with Lebanon makes Israel a highly dangerous destination at present.
UEFA, European soccer's governing body, currently allows only Tel Aviv to host club matches in Israel, but Benitez faces an anxious wait to discover if the tie will be moved to a neutral venue.
He told Liverpool's Web site: "There is no way we should be going to Israel to play a game of football at this time. It's crazy to even consider it. UEFA cannot put anyone at risk."
"The situation is very clear in my mind. It's a crazy situation and totally unacceptable to even think about us going over there at this time," he said.
"I feel sad for the people over there at the moment because it's a terrible time for them, but we have to put the security and safety of everyone involved before anything else and that means we cannot travel there. It would be impossible to concentrate on the game," he said. "UEFA need to make a decision quickly because there will be lots of our supporters wanting to know what is happening."
AC Milan, Champions League winners in 2003, will face Red Star Belgrade or Cork City in the third qualifying round -- if they are allowed to enter this year's competition.
The Italian giants were recently punished for their part in the Serie A corruption scandals and are waiting to discover if a UEFA committee, which meets on Aug. 2, will sanction their participation in Europe's leading club competition.
Red Star are Milan's likely opponents after they edged the first leg of their second round clash at Irish side Cork 1-0.
Arsenal, last season's Champions League runners-up, will play Lithuania's FK Ekranas or Croatia's Dynamo Zagreb.
Arsene Wenger's side, who were beaten by Barcelona in the Paris final, will play their first European match at their new Emirates Stadium in the second leg.
Gunners vice chairman David Dein insisted his side can go one step further this season and told Arsenal's Web site: "After last season's great performance of getting into the final, the objective is to go one better this season and win it."
"Playing Dinamo Zagreb, assuming they get through, will be a new experience. We have never been in the qualifying rounds under Arsene, we have always gone into the group stages. It is important for us to get through these games to get in there again," he said.
Italian club Chievo, who only found out they would be playing in the competition earlier this month after Juventus and Fiorentina were thrown out of the competition as a result of the match-fixing verdicts, will play either Bulgarian outfit Levski Sofia or Sioni Bolnisi of Georgia.
German club Hamburg face Spain's Osasuna in one of the ties of the round, while Dutch side Ajax, one of the competition's most successful clubs, travel to either FC Copenhagen or Finnish side Mypa for their first leg match.
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