Celtic must now prepare for life in the Europa League after failing to secure their place in the 2025/26 edition of the Champions League.
On Tuesday night, thousands and thousands of miles away from Glasgow, Celtic were beaten by Kairat Almaty on penalties in Kazakhstan after a goalless bore-fest over two legs.
It means Celtic won’t be competing in Europe’s elite competition, and you sense this is going to have many negative implications on the team, especially in the 2025 summer transfer market.
But should the champions of Scotland be in such a situation that they have to go down this road to play against the best players in the world?
The ‘inherent injustice’ of Celtic’s Champions League exit
Over the years, Scotland’s European coefficient has taken a hit, and it now means Celtic have to go through a qualifying stage to play in the Champions League.
Simon Jordan labelled this as a ‘fundamental flaw’ within UEFA’s system and thinks it’s an ‘inherent injustice’ that Scotland’s top club have to go through this.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Crystal Palace owner clearly feels, the champions of whatever country in Europe, shouldn’t need to go through a qualifying phase to reach the main draw.
“The bare minimum of it is that there is an inherent injustice that they should have to play in a knockout stage for being the champions of their league,” said Jordan.
“That is a fundamental flaw in the first place. Why are Scotland’s champions having to play in the group stages? There is a morality around that.”
Danny Murphy added in the background: “I agree with that.”
What other champions are competing in the Europa League?
UEFA revamped their format last season, throwing away the old group stages and including a 36-man league where teams play eight different opponents to try and secure a ticket to the knockout stages.
The 2025/26 Europa League isn’t yet complete because only 20 teams have been locked in so far, with the final legs of qualifying due to be completed on Thursday before the main draw on Friday.
From the teams already in the hat, Celtic are the champions of their country, but is there anybody else in the same boat?
- Dinamo Zagreb, champions of Croatia
- Crvena zvezda or Red Star Belgrade, champions of Serbia
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