Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova are the highest ranked side that Celtic can face in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, if the hoops can get past Sarajevo in the first qualifying round.
UEFA seem to put in a lot of thought to splitting the draws up with two groups of five formed last night for the second round which takes place at 11am Celtic Park Time.
AIK of Sweden and HJK of Finland are the most familiar names in the draw that Celtic could be paired with but they will also have to come through a first round qualifier.
Should we beat FK Sarajevo, Celtic will play the winner of one of the following ties in the 2nd round of the Champions League.
Sheriff / Saburtalo
HJK / HB Tórshavn
Nõmme Kalju / Shkëndija
Slovan Bratislava / Sutjeska
Ararat-Armenia / AIKBoth groups attached. pic.twitter.com/wa4LXKJ103
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) June 18, 2019
Sheriff have a UEFA co-efficient of 12.250, Celtic’s stands at 31 which would suggest that the hoops will be strong favourites to progress through to the third qualifying round. AIK’s co-efficient is just 5.5. Celtic are the highest ranked team in the second round draw.
Draws and the co-efficient won’t be the priority for Neil Lennon this week as he attempts to get his squad ready for the first competitive match of the season on July 9/10.
Losing out on David Turnbull is a clear disappointment but it’s in defence that reinforcements are urgently required.
Although Mikael Lustig has still to sign for KAA Gent he seems certain to be joining Dedryck Boyata and Filip Benkovic in quitting the club.
Kris Ajer, Jozo Simunovic and Jack Hendry are the only central defenders with first team experience, at right-back Tony Ralston is the only option although teenagers Stephen Welsh and Robbie Deas can play in a couple of defensive positions.
89 min England 1-0 France (France missed two penalties
FT England 1-2 France oh la lahttps://t.co/VxUjfZdfYV— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) June 19, 2019