How to watch UEFA Women's Champions League draw live as Celtic set for historic tie

By David Walton

July 1, 2021

The UEFA Women’s Champions League draw is set to take place tomorrow afternoon, with Celtic making history.

Indeed, Fran Alonso’s second-place finish in the SWPL last season ensured we qualified for the competition for the first time in our history. It’s an incredible feat for the women’s side and a massive step forward for the project.

Now, all eyes will be on whether we can start to make our mark in Europe as well as looking to spearhead a title challenge on Glasgow City this term.

And those wishing to tune in for the Champions League first-round draw can do so live on the UEFA website. The draw will take place at 12pm Celtic Park Time tomorrow [Friday, July 2nd].

The Hoops will be in the League Path section of the draw and will be unseeded. This means we could come up against one of Brondby, Zurich, Arsenal, FC Minsk, Bordeaux, Hoffenheim, Levante, or PSV Eindhoven.

Interestingly, the first round will consist of four groups of four teams in the league section. The four teams will be split into two ties, with the winners facing each other in a final to see who qualifies for round 1.

History-making Celts in for a tough introduction to UEFA Women’s Champions League

It’s a bizarre setup this year from UEFA, but what’s new? There will be no home advantage in the mini-tournaments for round 1 either. All matches will be played at one venue.

Round 1’s semi-finals are due to take place on August 18th, with the finals three days later. Should Celtic win their mini-tournament in round 1, we’ll be in the hat for the round 2 draw on August 22nd.

The group stages don’t begin until September 13th. It’s fair to say Alonso’s side have a mighty task ahead of them if they’re to reach that stage of the competition.

Celtic FC Women head coach Fran Alonso / (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Fellow SWPL side Glasgow City are also in the draw, but they’ll be attempting to qualify via the Champions Route, where qualification isn’t any more straightforward.

But for Celtic, it’s all about the experience this season. Any tie will be a historic one given it’s our debut in the competition, and Alonso will want his side to make an impact whilst soaking in the experience.

Celtic want to be regulars at European level as we continue to grow in the women’s game. Our debut campaign in the Champions League will hopefully go a long way to showing the Ghirls the level they need to be at in the long-term

In other news, Celtic are now feeling the full effect of the Ben Davies January saga.