IF the defeat last night wasn’t bad enough, UEFA expert @Moravcik67_ on Twitter has given the lowdown on the route to the Champions League group stages. When the Europa League draw takes place, two sides will get a by into the play-offs whilst the others compete in a one-legged tie.
Below are the tweets from Moravcik in which he details what he perceives as being the path of the Scottish Champions to the group stages of the Europa League.
2. The EL qualifiers are a bit different for us, for a variety of reasons. We enter what's called the "Champions Path" which means we can only play other national champions who have, like us, been knocked out of the champions route of CL qualifiers.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 26, 2020
4. Note that the playoff round in the EL is a one-off match, compared to the normal home and away playoff we would have faced in the CL.
That's the way the EL will catch up with the CL to ensure that they both finish their qualifying in the same week.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 26, 2020
6. This is why there are 17 seeds and 3 non-seeds in the list of teams back in tweet #1. The 17 seeds are the teams knocked out in CLQR1. The 3 non-seeds are the 3 teams knocked out in the CL Prelim.
Any of those teams that win their QR2 match will be unseeded for QR3.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 26, 2020
8. What this means for QR 3 is that we could potentially draw Astana. Although the odds are small – given the number of other teams, and UEFA seeming to want to regionalise as much as possible this year.
But it is still a possibility.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 26, 2020
10. As the draw will be unbalanced, the 5 seeds will be matched with 5 non-seeds. The remaining 6 unseeded teams will then go into an open draw with each other.
Again, in terms of EL qualification, losing tonight has made making the EL groups far tougher than normal.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 26, 2020
12. I'm bet you're glad I told you all of this?
Finally, should we make the EL group stages we'd likely be a Pot 2 team again. There are too many moving parts just now, and I don't have the willpower to look at it just yet.
/End
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 26, 2020
All in all, Celtic’s defeat tonight has made it harder for the club to reach the group stages of European competition. The failure to prepare for the qualifiers in recent years has been our own doing and we must live with the shortcomings from the club. Year after year, they are given season ticket money and merchandise from hard working supporters yet are given a return of mediocrity in European football. The sad reality is that we are run as a Europa League club with a Champions League support and heritage.
Following the game last night, Neil Lennon pulled no punches as he said that want away players can leave and that he only wants players committed to Celtic at the club. Regardless of this, Hammond and Lennon should focus on bringing in players in key areas instead of dithering in the transfer window.
