Celtic will go into two draws with UEFA tomorrow- with the Europa League possibly offering tougher opponents than the Champions League play-off draw.
All will depend on the outcome of the third round qualifier with AEK Athens but with just a week before the play-off round UEFA will make a mammoth draw tomorrow.
The Champions League route is fairly straightforward with predictable teams waiting for the hoops if they get past their Greek test.
Playing against the champions of the 11th rated country in Europe will be as tough as it gets for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
Where it gets interesting, or worrying, is if Celtic lose out to AEK and drop into the Europa League.
10. Look again at the teams in the 3rd round of EL qualifying. Whoever wins those ties will be unseeded in the playoff and would be our potential opponents.
As you can see, the list includes Legia, Ludogorets, APOEL, Cluj, Rosenborg, Midtjylland and Hapoel Be’er Sheva. pic.twitter.com/QM2R5oo0qg
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 3, 2018
3. The playoff draw is on Monday 6th August. PSV and Young Boys of Berne join the competittion. PSV are seeded. YBoB are unseeded.
Ludogorets going out means that the Astana v Dinamo Zagreb matchup becomes a seeded tie. Here’s how the draw will shape up. pic.twitter.com/XBYBYs2zWu
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 1, 2018
In previous seasons only teams losing out in the third Champions League qualifying round enjoyed the insurance policy of the Europa League qualifiers.
This season every losing champion gets a second chance through the Europa League with UEFA devising a strange seeding system for those clubs.
Teams dropping into the Europa League at the third round are seeded, if they go through to the play-off round they will be unseeded and face a losing team from the Champions League third round.
Clubs like Ludogorets, Legia Warsaw and APOEL Nicosia are potential opponents in the Europa League play-off- all three have higher co-efficients than Astana who are on course to be seeded in the play off round of the Champions League.