As the full list of Champions League teams to drop down into the Europa League has been confirmed, we now know who we can face in the last-32.
Tonight, Celtic play their final group stage match against CFR Cluj. In a campaign in which the Hoops have been utterly dominant, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll finish Group E as the winners.
That means, according to official UEFA guidelines (UEFA, Page 23), that Celtic can only be drawn against a Europa League group runner-up or the four worst third-placed teams to drop down from the Champions League.
On Tuesday night, RB Salzburg, Ajax, Inter Milan, and Benfica all dropped into the competition. Heading into last night’s Champions League matches, there was still a chance that we could’ve met the latter two in the last-32.
Fortunately, however, that won’t be the case now. All four teams who dropped into the Europa League last night have a lower points total than Tuesday night’s quartet.
Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge, Olympiakos, and Shakhtar Donetsk all dropped down. These are now the four teams that Celtic could face in the last-32 from UEFA’s premier club competition.
Celtic won’t face Champions League big-hitters
For Celtic fans, that reads a lot better than a potential trip to Salzburg or Amsterdam. Even though we know we have to face tough teams in order to progress in this tournament, it would be ideal if we could get a favourable draw for the next stage.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the other four teams are easy pickings. Three of the four teams are champions of their own domestic league. Leverkusen, meanwhile, won 2-1 at Bayern Munich just days ago too.
Tonight, we’ll finally find out who else will qualify from the Europa League groups. As things stand at the moment, Celtic would be eligible to face the following teams:
APOEL Nicosia, Malmo, Getafe, LASK, Eintracht Frankfurt, Porto, Ludogrets, Wolfsburg, Roma, Wolves, and AZ Alkmaar.
Tonight’s final group games could change all that, however. But as things stand, these are the sides Celtic could face in the last-32 along with the four Champions League drop-downs from last night.
Hopefully, we’ll be provided with the chance to reach the last-16 for the first time since the competition’s revamping from the UEFA Cup to the Europa League. We’ve only qualified for the last-32 on three occasions, but have failed to get any further since 2009’s changes.
With our first-leg to be away from home (UEFA, page 23), we certainly have a golden chance this time around. Now we just need the draw to be kind to us!
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
