Liverpool’s elimination of Hoffenheim confirmed that Celtic will be in Pot 4 for Thursday’s Champions League draw.
If just one of four seeded sides had lost out in the Play Off round the hoops would have been bumped up into Pot 3 and avoided the prospect of playing Spurs, Liverpool or Napoli.
What can be said with almost certainty is that Celtic will be up against an English or Spanish team in the draw.
Five English and four Spanish teams are spread out between pots one, two and three. Television demands that two teams from the same country can’t be drawn in the same group meaning that a Battle of Britain or trip to Spain is short odds on.
Brendan Rodgers stated after the Astana match that his aim was to keep Celtic in Europe after Christmas, with a place in Pot 4 rather than Pot 3 the realist suggests that third place and a Europa League parachute is more likely than a last 16 place in the Champions League.
Like last season a lot will depend on the head-to-head matches with our Pot 3 opponents, when Borussia Monchengladbach won at Celtic Park the odds titled away from the hoops.
For those that are looking for glamour they can look at a group consisting of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Napoli, if the chance of progres or progress is more your thing Spartak Moscow, Porto and Anderlecht seems more manageable.
POT 1
It’s 50-50 in here with the four league winners from the top leagues best avoided while the next four league winners could well be beatable.
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Juventus make up the top four with Benfica, AS Monaco, Spartak Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk not quite as daunting.
It seems that half of the Celtic support want to face Real Madrid with as many looking for one of the ‘lesser’ four. Spartak Moscow have the second lowest co-efficient of all 32 teams in the group phase but you don’t win the Russian League without being able to play!
POT 2
There is some serious firepower in this pot led by two English and three Spanish teams.
Porto are probably the ‘easier’ side in this pot but only in comparison with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris St Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla, Manchester City and Manchester United.
All of these clubs have been serious achievers in recent seasons with the strength of La Liga obvious with their four representatives spread across Pot 1 and 2 meaning that there is a 50% chance that Celtic will be off to sunny Spain.
POT 3
There’s a bit of a mix in this pot but it would have been better to be in thre that topping Pot 4.
With Napoli, Spurs, Basel, Olympiakos, Anderlecht, Liverpool, Roma and Besiktas it’s difficult to pick out who might be an ‘easier’ option.
Celtic and Spurs have never met before in Europe, a return trip to Wembley where Celtic beat Spurs under Tony Mowbray in 2009 would be welcome but football logic points to an Anfield return for Brendan Rodgers.
POT 4
In true Bullseye style this is who we could have faced- if we had been promoted into Pot 3.
It could have been simple with Maribor or nastier against RB Leipzig despite their failure to sign Barrie McKay.
Joining Celtic in Pot 4 we have CSKA Moscow, Quarabag, Sporting Lisbon, APOEL Nicosia and Feyenoord.