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.