Celtic draw Levante in UWCL First Round; could then face FC Minsk or Rosenborg

By John McGinley

July 2, 2021

Celtic FC Women will play Levante in the UEFA Women’s Champions League First Round this August.

The draw was made this lunchtime.

This stage of qualifying is unusual if you follow the men’s competition. Effectively there’s a four-team mini-tournament to determine who goes through to the second round.

If Fran Alonso’s team progress through that one-off, one-legged tie against Levante, they will meet Minsk or Rosenborg just a few days later for a chance to progress.

Venues for the mini-tournaments have yet to be decided.

Teams such as Lyon, Wolfsburg and Manchester City await in the second round, which is a more traditional home and away knockout format.

The winners of this second round then go into the big group stages of the competition.

Celtic, having not played in European competition previously, were unseeded for the draw today. So it’s not going to be easy against Levante by any means. In fact, it’ll be a great achievement if they could pick up a win.

We shouldn’t write the Ghirls off, of course. Glasgow City have achieved some impressive results in Europe over the last decade and, as we know, Celtic can compete with them.

Celtic’s match against Levante will be played on 18th August, with the second part of Round 1 taking place on 21st August.

The draw for Round 2 will take place on 22nd August.

In other news, Burnley follow Celtic example, bring in SPFL star Thomas Robert on trial.