The Champions League group stage draw is still over six weeks away, but UEFA are clearly keen to get people talking.
European football’s governing body have been pretty quiet about the group stage over the summer. But they got the ball rolling on Monday evening by posting the first graphic of the 26 teams who have qualified so far.
It was hardly a major surprise to see Celtic included. Indeed, we were one of the very first teams to book our spot at the big table, back in early May.
The UEFA tweet didn’t reveal any new information. But it did give Celtic supporters a glimpse of what could be in store for us from mid-September to mid-December.
UEFA didn’t include any details of pots as much of that is still uncertain. We will either be in pot three or four, with the latter the likely option.
We could face the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City or Real Madrid (again). As always, it’s a pretty daunting line-up.
Alongside the tweet, UEFA released an article sharing more details about what is to come.
They shared the qualified teams again, this time sorted by their country. Strangely enough, 17 of the 26 teams come from England, Spain, Germany or Italy. We are Scotland’s only representative at this stage.
Six more teams will join the party after qualification, with four of those coming from the ‘Champions path’.
It should all start to get very real, very soon. The draw is on August 31.
In other news, Michael Nicholson has stepped down from the board of the SPFL
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