The Scottish Sun has this morning reported that Celtic could be one of two Champions League dropouts to get a bye into the Europa League playoff round.
The newspaper has stated that a random draw will take place between the 10 dropouts, with two bye spots up for grabs heading into the playoff round.
However, this could come at a cost. The Sun states that those who receive a bye will have to face one of the losers of the Champions League third qualifying round when it comes to the Europa League playoff round.
This could set up yet another clash against Celtic’s conquerors Ferencvaros should they fail to progress past the third qualifying round of Europe’s premier club competition.
All third qualifying round and playoff ties in the Europa League will be decided via one-legged playoffs. Therefore, some tricky prospects may still await Celtic before they can look forward to any group stage football this season.
Europa League scrap plans to use VAR in the groups
Another potential boost for Celtic has come in the form of VAR not being integrated into the Europa League group stages this season.
UEFA had initially planned to use video technology for the groups, but those plans have been scrapped. It also wasn’t used in the Europa League group stages last season.
Had Celtic qualified for the Champions League group stages, VAR would’ve been introduced.
Celtic were both rewarded and penalised by UEFA’s video tech last season. Against Copenhagen in the last-32 of the Europa, the Hoops conceded a penalty against the Danes away from home before they were given one in the return leg at Parkhead. VAR made the decision on both.
However, it’s certainly had its issues. Not giving strikers the benefit of the doubt as well as lengthy time delays whilst checks are ongoing are just two of the main gripes many have had since its introduction (Daily Mail).
Last night was most certainly a blow, but it’s worth looking forward now as we get set to face some stern challenges both domestically and in Europe.
In other news, many Celtic supporters are concerned that a game-changing transfer is now off the table.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
