Paris Saint Germain hand Celtic Champions League boost
Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 Second Leg - Bayern Munich v Chelsea - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - August 8, 2020 General view of a matchball, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) REUTERS/Michael Dalder
It is a long shot with complications at every turn but Atalanta’s defeat opened up a little bit of light for Celtic in the Champions League.
A win for the Italian side, who are already assured a place in the group stage would have lifted them into the third group of seeds but Paris Saint Germain’s late rescue act means that Atalanta will be ranked and seeded behind Celtic- if the hoops navigate their way through the qualification process.
After the events of the last week nothing can be taken for granted in the new normal.
As much as I hate to see PSG win, it does mean that Atalanta won’t be ranked above Celtic in Europe for 20/21.
Should Celtic qualify for the CL groups we would be a Pot 3 team unless Lyon win the 19/20 Champions League.
The hard part is, of course, qualifying for the groups.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 12, 2020
Could be Pot 3 or 4. They’d need teams ranked higher to get knocked out in qualifying.
They’d be the highest ranked pot 4 team, though, unless Plzen qualify through the non-champion route.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) August 12, 2020
UEFA have scheduled Celtic to play KR Reykjavik to play at Celtic Park on Tuesday but the First Minister announced on Tuesday not to expect to see Celtic or Aberdeen play this week.
That should be clear by 7.45pm on Tuesday August 18 but as St Mirren, St Johnstone and Hamilton have discovered nothing can be taken for granted.
If Celtic are back in action they have three one-off matches to get through then a two-legged play off to reach the promised land of the group stage.
Being in among the third seeds usually makes a significant difference but there are always a few dangerous fourth seeds- such as Atalanta.