LIVERPOOL vowed to fight any attempt to make them play in war-torn Israel after the club were drawn against Maccabi Haifa in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Arsenal are likely to face a tricky tie against Dinamo Zagreb. The Croatian team hold a 4-1 advantage over FK Ekranas, the Lithuanian club, for the right to play Arsène Wenger’s side. AC Milan, whose participation is still to be confirmed by Uefa after the Italian matchfixing scandal, could meet Red Star Belgrade.

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, led a chorus of protests by claiming that it would be “crazy” to expect the club and their supporters to travel to the Middle East.

Uefa has written to the Israeli FA for its observations, while Haifa are keen to play the second leg of their third-round qualifying tie on August 22 or 23 in Tel Aviv, which remains largely unaffected by the troubles, but Liverpool want the match played on a neutral ground amid security fears.

“It’s a crazy situation and totally unacceptable to even think about us going over there at this time,” Benítez, speaking from the club’s pre-season training camp in Switzerland, said.

Bryce Morrison, Liverpool’s secretary, held lengthy discussions with Uefa and Haifa in Nyon, where yesterday’s draw was held, and a decision is expected at the latest by Wednesday next week.

However, Liverpool are said to be uneasy about the game being switched to a stadium in Cyprus and The Netherlands has been mooted as an alternative destination.

Les Lawson, spokesman for the Liverpool International Supporters’ Club, described Haifa’s claims that it would be safe to play the game in Tel Aviv as “nonsense” and pleaded for common sense to prevail. The first leg will be played at Anfield on Tuesday or Wednesday week.

Benítez added: “A few years back when I was with Valencia we were drawn to play Maccabi Haifa in a Uefa Cup tie and the match was switched to Cyprus. The situation then was nowhere near as bad as it is now. 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. I feel sad for the people over there at this moment in time, but we have to put the security and safety of everyone involved before anything else and that means we cannot travel there.”

There was more bad news yesterday for Liverpool, who travelled to Liechtenstein today for the first game of their pre-season tour, against 1FC Kaiserslautern, after council officials announced that the club were no longer front- runners for a £9 million grant earmarked for their ambitious new stadium plans.

The club have failed to come up with “cast iron” assurances that they have private financial backing for a proposed 60,000-seater stadium on Stanley Park, despite being given 18 months to find an investor, and must now compete with several other regeneration schemes — many of which have already been appraised — for the money.

Benítez, meanwhile, could hand Jermaine Pennant his debut against Kaiserslautern. The manager has admitted that he may have taken a risk signing the controversial winger from Birmingham City, but has asked Robbie Fowler — no stranger to trouble himself — to mentor the 23-year-old and Craig Bellamy, the striker.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Third qualifying round

Hearts or Siroki Brijeg v AEK Athens
AC Milan v Cork or Red Star Belgrade
FK Ekranas or Dinamo Zagreb v Arsenal
Liverpool v Maccabi Haifa

• First-leg ties to be played August 8/9, second-leg ties August 23/24

  UEFA CUP Second qualifying round

  IK Start v Drogheda United
  Odense BK v Llanelli
  FK Ventspils v Newcastle United
  Gretna v Derry City
  

• First-leg ties to be played August 10, second-leg ties August 24

  THE LOWDOWN

  MACCABI HAIFA

  Four years ago, on the day before Manchester United’s Champions League game against Maccabi Haifa, Sir Alex Ferguson praised Haifa for supposedly beating Chelsea and Parma the previous season — he was confusing them with Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, will do well to check his facts on Haifa, who won the Israeli league last season by 16 points, their fifth title in six years.

  DINAMO ZAGREB

  Dinamo are not the force of old: of the 22 Croatian players in their squad, only one, Luka Modric, made the national squad for the recent World Cup. They are formidable domestically, though, having won eight of the 15 league championships held since Croatia gained independence. They lost to Newcastle United at this stage of the Champions League nine years ago.

  BILL EDGAR