Who Celtic could face in Champions League qualifier after earning seeded draw status

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Celtic have another Champions League campaign to look forward to after winning the Scottish Premiership this season.

Brendan Rodgers raised the Parkhead club’s profile in UEFA’s elite competition after Celtic beat the likes of RB Leipzig and earned a draw against former Europa League holders Atalanta in Bergamo.

Celtic also took Bayern Munich to within seconds of extra-time as a Nicolas Kuhn goal almost earned the Hoops a famous win in Germany against the Bundesliga club and now, the Bhoys are about to embark on another European journey in the Champions League next season.

However, Rodgers must negotiate a tricky third-round qualifier to get to the league phase but that difficulty was reduced last night after a development in the Croatian league last night.

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Who Celtic have avoided in the Champions League after Parkhead club’s seed was confirmed

Celtic have found Champions League qualifiers tricky in the past. For Rodgers to earn an easier route to the league phase, the Hoops boss required seeding status to avoid some of the tougher teams in the third round.

Now that Rijeka beat Dinamo Zagreb to the league title, Celtic earned that seeding status and have avoided the following teams:

• Bodo/Glimt
• FC Copenhagen
• Crvena Zvezda
• Ferencvaros

So with some tough teams avoided, who will Celtic potentially face in the big third round qualifier?

Celtic’s potential Champions League qualifier opponents

With seeded status guaranteed, Celtic, in theory, should have an easier fixture to negotiate to get into the league phase.

The Scottish champions have shown that they can hold their own against Europe’s elite, so who could stand in Celtic’s way of reaching the lucrative group phase this summer?

• Maccabi Tel Aviv
• FC Basel
• Dynamo Kiev
• Sturm Graz
• FCSB

It’s fair to say that any of these teams are a potential banana skin but after watching Celtic in last season’s tournament, Rodgers and the fans must be confident of taking care of any of these teams.