BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers during a Celtic press conference ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against Aston Villa at Villa Park , on January 28, 2025, in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Celtic’s potential opponents for the Champions League Play Off tie next month cleared up a little tonight with the Second Round completed with two of the sides seeded to reach the Play Off round being knocked out.
Romanian champions FCSB were beaten 2-1 at home by Shkendija from North Macedonia meaning that they went out on a 3-1 aggregate, dropping into the Europa League Third Round qualifiers.
Similarly Maccabi Tel Aviv were knocked out tonight, losing 1-0 at ‘home’ in Serbia against Cypriot champions Pafos after drawing the first leg 1-1 away from home.
Going into tonight’s matches the tweet below showed the clubs expected to reach the unseeded section of the Play Off section but two of those sides have failed to make it through to the Third Round which highlights the unpredictability of matches being played at this time of year.
Basel and Sturm Graz are guaranteed a place in the Play Off draw but the other three sides will have to get through one more round of qualifiers. Those paired teams will be Pafos/Dinamo Kiev, Slovan Bratislava/Kairat and Quarabag/Shkendija.
Projected @ChampionsLeague Play-Off opponents:
?? FCSB
? Maccabi Tel-Aviv
?? Slovan Bratislava
?? Basel
?? Sturm GrazCourtesy of @FootRankings ?? pic.twitter.com/GIEnazPwBW
— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) July 27, 2025
Are you happy with Celtic's transfer activity
Absolutely- fantastic business
I will judge on September 1
Horrific- feels like 2023 again
The Draw for the Play Off ties will take place on Monday August 4 with squads to be registered with UEFA on August 14, two changes can be made by 11pm the night before the first leg tie.
Although Celtic will be seeded that doesn’t provide any advantages such as playing the return leg at home with the draw open in terms of the order of matches.
The Play Off matches will take place on August 19/20 and 26/27 with Celtic having the option to postpone their home match with Livingston which is scheduled for Saturday August 23.
