Celtic land major Champions League draw boost as potential opponents revealed

Unlike in this campaign, when Celtic progressed to the knock-out phase of Europe’s premier competition before losing to Bayern Munich, the Scottish champions will have to play one two-legged qualifier to reach the main phase of the Champions League next season.

They can at least take comfort that they will be definitely seeded for the draw after Rijeka pipped Dinamo Zagreb to the Croatian title, confirming Celtic’s status as one of the seeds.

Celtic’s UEFA coefficient of 38.000 left them in danger of slipping into the unseeded section of the draw, but because Dinamo Zagreb - who have a greater coefficient - have missed out on qualification, Celtic join Bodo/Glimt, FC Copenhagen, Crvena Zvezda and Ferencvaros as one of the seeds.

Rijeka’s 2-0 win over Slaven Belupo on Sunday handed them the Croatian title by virtue of head-to-head record after finishing level on points with Dinamo Zagreb. Celtic could therefore face the likes of them, Basel, Sturm Graz, FCSB, Qarabag, Slovan Bratislava and Lech Poznan in the play-off.

Celtic’s Champions League draw dates

Celtic’s Champions League play-off will take place across August 16/17 and 26/27, with the draw due to be made on August 4.

The news comes as a boost to Celtic and manager Brendan Rodgers, whose hopes of a domestic treble were ended on Saturday when they lost the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen on penalties.