Celtic were given a double Champions League warning last night as Ludogorets of Bulgaria and APOEL of Cyprus failed to win at home.
Both teams are seeded as potential final fourth qualifying round opponents for Celtic but have their work cut out to avoid being ko’d at the second qualifying round and being banished out of Europe for the season.
Ludogorets and APOEL made it through to the group stage last season hosting Real Madrid and Barcelona but those achievements were given little respect as Milsami of Moldova and Vardar of Macedonia made their mark in the competition.
Last season Ludogorets won at home to Basel then drew with Liverpool but last night found themselves losing 1-0 to Milsami thanks to a 41st minute goal from Alexandru Antoniuc for the Moldovan champions.
APOEL, who lost striker Cillian Sheridan to Omonia Nicosia during the close season, were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Vardar as they attempt to match last season’s achievements.
With clubs playing their first competitive match of the season there was a number of surprise results in last night’s Champions League qualifiers.
Danish side Midtjylland travel to Gibralter next week with just a goal from Morten Rasmussen in the bank against Lincoln.
Should any of the teams scheduled for the unseeded half of the fourth round draw fail to reach that stage Maccabi Tel Aviv would be the first club to step up but after losing 2-1 away to Hibernian of Malta they’ll need to turn the tie around in the second leg.
Former Rangers (IL) chief Martin Bain is the chief executive of Maccabi Tel Aviv with experience of the devastation to a club’s finances that an early European exit can cause.
Well we just have to make sure we get through these qualifiers unscathed