Celtic will shortly discover who we’ll be facing in the Champions League qualifiers next month and it’s fair to say that this will be the most difficult Champions League task in a decade as Celtic miss out on the supposedly easier Champions route to the group stages. So rather than face title winners from lesser ranked leagues on the continent Celtic will be in amongst clubs of a higher standard who also failed to win their own domestic title in that Covid-hit season to forget.
Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side – and we have no idea at the moment what that will look like come the Champions League action kicking off – will be seeded for the second qualifying round and will face one of three tough looking opponents – Galatasaray (Turkey), FC Midtjylland (Denmark) or our old pals from Austria, Rapid Vienna.
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Celtic this morning have been linked with Erik Sviatchenko who currently stars for the Danish side while Boli Bolingoli signed for Celtic from Rapid Vienna for £3m in July 2019. Preference would be to avoid Galatasaray so that’s probably who we’ll get!
If we make it through then in the third round Celtic will remain seeded and are likely to face the likes of PSV Eindhoven, Sparta Prague, Spartak Moscow or Genk. Challenging options all over the place there, if we prevail that it’s into the play-offs where it could be Shakhtar Donestk or even Benfica, both of who we have plenty of European history with.
Defeat will see Celtic drop into either the Conference League play-off or the Europa League qualifiers depending on which round we lose. While it is fair to say that these ties are going to be tougher, Celtic have hardly had a brilliant record against the unknowns and the unfancied sides while even last season we got the better over the two group stage matches of the eventual French Champions Lille. The previous year Lazio were beaten home and away and Celtic got a draw in France against their Cup holders Rennes, beating the French side at Parkhead. So maybe these more glamorous early ties will suit Celtic?
Here’s hoping. We’ll know who we’re playing shortly and The Celtic Star will be participating in a media conference with a Celtic player at lunchtime today.
Champions League Draw – Celtic are in the League path
Seeded
Celtic (SCO)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Sparta Praha (CZE)
Unseeded
Rapid Wien (AUT)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Midtjylland (DEN)
What happens next?
Ties take place on 20/21 and 27/28 July, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if required. Winners advance to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (draw on 19 July), and will be assured of a group stage place in either the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League or UEFA Europa Conference League.
Champions path losing sides progress to the UEFA Europa League champions path third qualifying round, while league path losing sides go into the Europa League main path third qualifying round.
