So we’re all of to Armenia, in the green, in the green, following a bizarre seeding decision, even by UEFA standards. Yesterday, the three groupings were announced for today’s draw, with Celtic apparently replaced by Ludogorets of Bulgaria in the Nordic group. The Bulgarians then drew Crusaders of Belfast, whilst Celtic face a first-ever trip to a country bordered by Turkey, Georgia and Iran, to meet the Armenian champions, Alashkert.
The first leg will be played in the 7,000-capacity Alashkert Stadium, located in the capital Yerevan, on either 10 or 11 July, assuming no ‘walking’ season in Armenia, with the return due at Celtic Park the following midweek. Some of you may remember Ararat Yerevan, who were the Soviet champions back in the early 1970’s and played regularly in Europe.
Alashkert’s home kit is yellow shirt and socks with black shorts. They have played European football in each of the past three seasons, losing in the second qualifying round every time. In the Europa League of 2015/16, they beat St Johnstone on away goals, before losing to Kairat of Kazakhstan.
The following campaign ended in defeat to Georgian neighbours Dinamo Tbilisi in the Champions League, following an aggregate win over Andorran champions, Santa Coloma, a result they repeated against the same opposition in last season’s competition, before being eliminated by BATE Borisov. Their strongest performances would appear to be at home, with only BATE winning in Yerevan in this period, whilst they have failed to register a victory on their travels.
Should Celtic win through against Alashkert, our potential second qualifying round opponents will be known later this afternoon.
