Celtic fans will be eager to find out who their side will face in the Champions League proper today following the conclusion of the qualifiers last night.
In the new format, the Bhoys face four home opponents and four away from home. The top eight teams progress automatically to the last 16, while ninth to 25th will enter a play-off to reach the same stage.
There has been a lot of talk this week about Brendan Rodgers being given the correct tools at his disposal in the transfer market to have the best chance of succeeding in the tournament, so it will remain to be seen if Celtic add to their squad ahead of the deadline.
Either way, today’s draw will represent the first of three significant events this week, with Deadline Day and a Glasgow Derby clash against Rangers on Sunday the other two.
The 36 teams who will be entered into the draw have been revealed following last night’s results.
All 36 sides in the Champions League draw
Now for the exciting part, as Celtic fans look out their passports ahead of their side’s involvement in the Champions League for a third consecutive season, per Fabrizio Romano.
Attached are four pots which consist of nine sides with their seed and ranking included, making for some tasty potential ties. The Bhoys are drawn against two teams from ALL four categories.
- Pot 1 – Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
- Pot 2 – Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
- Pot 3 – Feyenoord, Sporting, PSV Eindhoven, Dinamo Zagreb, Salzburg, Lille, Crvena Zvedza, Young Boys, CELTIC
- Pot 4 – Slovan Bratislava, AS Monaco, Sparta Praha, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Braz, Stade Brestois
Exciting times are ahead, and it will be intriguing to see who the Bhoys face in the newly-structured format. The league phase will run until late January before play-offs and knockout football commence.
Stay with us on 67 Hail Hail later today as we bring you comprehensive live coverage of the draw as Celtic enter unprecedented territory with a minimum of eight ‘league phase’ matches to play.
Hopefully, some enthralling ties will emerge before the scramble for match tickets and flight route planning begins.
This club belong at the top table of European football. Improvement is needed in the competition based on recent showings, but Celtic supporters live in hope that a magical campaign is around the corner. Hail Hail!
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