Getting past Copenhagen into the last 16 of the Europa League is all that will be concerning Neil Lennon at the end of February but success will have some very worthwhile spin-offs.
As it stands the Danish side are slightly ahead of Celtic in the UEFA co-efficient table which can go a long way towards deciding what sort of qualifiers you face when the new season kicks off.
There is absolutely no certainty that Celtic and Copenhagen will be in the same competition next season but nudging ahead of the Danes won’t do any harm with the co-efficient based on five years of performances.
The Champions League qualification process now consists of four qualifying rounds, it will again next season for the Scottish champions next season but in theory being seeded makes life a little easier.
Cluj and AEK Athens upset that theory over the last two seasons by knocking Celtic out but there were exceptional circumstances in those ties that saw the hoops crash out to unseeded opponents in the third round.
On February 20 the co-efficient will be a sideshow but if Celtic get past the Danes the benefits will be felt in July and August.
1. Better late than never. Copenhagen it is. A tie that could be important in different ways in terms of coefficient.
At a club level, Celtic are currently ranked 46th in Europe, on 33pts, as attached. A win and a draw in the tie gets us up to 40th, two wins up to 39th. pic.twitter.com/xkjfpEs30S
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 16, 2019
2. These rankings determine seeding in qualifiers, and what pot you’re drawn from in the group stage. So even getting a few extra places up the table could make the difference in being seeded in all qualifying rounds next year, or being in a higher pot for a group stage draw.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 16, 2019
