Celtic’s full UEFA Champions League picture is becoming clearer by the day.
Ange Postecoglou‘s Hoops have qualified for the competition proper for the season successive season after winning another Premiership title.
We will be one of 32 teams involved in the group stage – the final time the competition follows the format before a big change the following season.
We now know 18 of the automatic Champions League qualifiers and there are some tasty potential match-ups in store for us.
So far, the teams who have confirmed their place in the group stage are:
Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Napoli, Lazio, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Porto, Feyenoord, Red Bull Salzburg, Celtic, Red Star Belgrade
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26 teams will qualify automatically for the competition, with six more coming through qualifiers at the start of the new season.
That means that there are still eight places to be confirmed in the coming weeks. They will go to the following:
Champions League holders – if they’ve already qualified then the champions of Ukraine (likely Shakhtar Donetsk)
Europa League holders – Sevilla or AS Roma
England – Almost certainly Manchester United
Spain – Almost certainly Real Sociedad
Italy (two places) – likely to be AC Milan and Inter Milan
Germany – Union Berlin or Freiburg
France – Almost certainly Lens
So there could be a fair few surprises in the competition next year.
The likes of Real Sociedad, Lens and Newcastle United aren’t exactly regulars at this level.
Unfortunately, we’re still pretty likely to be a pot four team so may not even be able to face them in the group stage.
We’ll find out when the draw happens on August 31. Only 14 weeks to go.
In other news, Rangers have found space for 7,500 Newcastle fans for an upcoming friendly at Ibrox