IT’S three weeks until Celtic begin their quest for Champions League qualification.
And the picture of the side standing between them and the riches of Europe‘s premier competition is starting to become a little clearer.
3
3
3
Unlike Rangers, Celtic are in the Champions path of the draw and because of the Scottish co-efficient, they are entered into the Champions League play-off round, meaning it’s a straight one-off tie to guarantee qualification.
They’ll find out on Monday whom they could potentially face as the draw is made for the play-off round.
They are seeded so they’ve been kept apart from Bodo/Glimt.
The Norwegian champions reached the semi-finals of last season’s Europa League before losing to eventual winners Tottenham.
Danish champions Copenhagen, Serbian title winners Red Star Belgrade and Hungarian champs Ferencvaros have also been avoided.
Although, there is no guarantee these clubs will be in the play-off round with games still to play.
Brendan Rodgers’ side could face one of FIVE opponents in the play-off round, with two sides already in the draw and three others battling to get there.
Celtic could face Basel, captained by former Liverpool star Xherdan Shaqiri.
Another face familiar to Hoops fans will be striker Albian Ajeti, who left the club in 2023 after an unsuccessful spell, while Rangers lost out in the race to sign their Brazilian midfielder Metinho this summer.
The Swiss champions are unseeded and have confirmed their place in the draw.
Some Hoops fans may remember their Champions League dreams were ended by Basel in August 2002, but they would go on to become Uefa Cup finalists that season with defeat to Porto in the final in Seville.
Another club already in the hat are Austrian Bundesliga champions Sturm Graz.
Scotland international Max Johnston plays for them. If they are drawn together, it would be the first competitive fixture between the pair.
So Basel and Sturm Graz are guaranteed to be in the play-off round, but there are three other places still up for grabs.
Three potential opponents are: Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv, Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava and Qarabag from Azerbaijan but are all in second round qualifying action.
Maccabi Tel Aviv secured a 1-1 draw with Cypriot side Pafos last Tuesday. Substitute Elad Madmon netting a 90+10 equaliser in Cyprus.
Should they emerge victorious in Israel on Wednesday, they would face the winners of Hamrun Spartans (Malta) v Dynamo Kyiv.
The Ukrainians are 3-0 up from the first leg so look likely to get the job done.
Therefore, in the third round qualifier, it’s looking like Maccabi Tel Aviv v Dynamo Kyiv to fill one of the slots in the play-off round.
Two places to go, and Slovan Bratislava are the next possible opponents and they will be familiar to Celtic fans after the Hoops thumped them 5-1 at Celtic Park on matchday one of the Champions League last season.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have been linked with the star striker David Strelec, who played against them last season.
Bratislava look in a strong position to qualify for the third round after a 4-0 home win over Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar in the first leg.
Should they get through as expected, they’ll come up against the winners of Finnish side KuPS and Kairat Almaty in the third round, with KuPS taking a 2-0 lead over to Kazakhstan for the second leg.
Therefore, Bratislava are in the driving seat and likely to face the winner of KuPS and Kairat for a place in the play-off round.
The final place in the pot could go to Qarabag.
The Azerbaijani side are in a commanding position of their tie, with a 3-0 lead against Irish side Shelbourne, heading into the second leg in Baku on Wednesday.
If Qarabag can complete the job at home on Wednesday, they’ll face either Shkendija or FCSB in the third round qualifier.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
North Macedonia outfit Shkendija have a 1-0 lead to take with them to Romania for the second leg on Wednesday.
The third round qualifier looks like Qarabag against either Shkendija or FCSB, with the winner of that tie going into the play-off round as potential opponents for Celtic.
Celtic’s potential CL play-off opponents
Two teams confirmed that could face Celtic are Basel and Sturm Graz.
There are three slots left to fill for the play-off round, with teams currently in Champions League qualifiers.
Place 1 – teams involved: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Dynamo Kyiv, Pafos, Hamrun
Second round qualifiers as it stands:
Dynamo Kyiv v Hamrun (3-0 on agg)
Maccabi Tel Aviv v Pafos (1-1 on agg)
Third round qualifers
Hamrun/Dynamo Kyiv vs Pafos/Maccabi Tel Aviv
The winner of this tie will go into the play-off round
Place 2 teams involved: Slovan Bratislava, Kairat Almaty, KuPS, Zrinjski Mostar
Second round qualifiers as it stands:
Kairat Almaty v KuPS (0-2 on agg)
Zrinjski Mostar v Slovan Bratislava (0-4 on agg)
Third round qualifiers
KuPS/Kairat Almaty vs Slovan Bratislava/Zrinjski Mostar
The winner of this tie will go into the play-off round.
Place 3 teams involved: Qarabag, FCSB, Shkendija, Shelbourne
Second round qualifiers as it stands:
FCSB v Shkendija (0-1 on agg)
Qarabag v Shelbourne (3-0 on agg)
Third round qualifiers:
Shkendija/FCSB vs Shelbourne/Qarabag
The winner of this tie goes into the play-off round.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
