If Celtic does go on and win the league title this season, they’ll get automatic qualification to the Champions League in its new format, with more money to play for.

Gustaf Lagerbielke
Soccer Football – Champions League – Group E – Celtic v Feyenoord – Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain – December 13, 2023 Celtic’s Gustaf Lagerbielke celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

According to projections from Football Rankings shared on X (formerly Twitter), Celtic are expected to be placed in pot three. This setup would pit them against formidable opponents from each of the other three pots.

In the revised format, unlike previous years, the Scottish champions would face two teams from their own pot—meaning two fixtures against clubs from pot three, which includes notable teams like Feyenoord, Sporting CP, PSV, Dinamo Zagreb, Lille, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Bodo/Glimt.

The Champions League Pots Breakdown:

  • Pot One: Dominated by top-tier European clubs, including Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter Milan, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, and Barcelona.
  • Pot Two: Features strong contenders like Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Benfica, Atalanta, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, and AC Milan.
  • Pot Four: This pot may offer slightly more favourable matchups for the Scottish champions, containing teams like AS Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Girona, Bologna, and VFB Stuttgart.

This restructured Champions League format ensures that Celtic would face a blend of highly challenging and potentially more winnable fixtures.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Wouldn’t say to many of our support would be to interested in CL at this stage, with the title as it currently stands?
    What I must admit to and struggling to understand this season, is how we were able to play with a good tempo and intensity within our play in our 3 home CL matches, which has been missing so badly within way to many of our home SPFL matches?
    Our last 3 home matches of the season surely has to be played with a tempo and intensity of a CL night, especially against far inferior teams that Hun teams have to offer?
    Remains a mystery as to why it hasn’t been produced on any form of consistency to date, so the next 3 home games would be a great time to deliver imo?
    On the bigger picture, we still need a fair few to bring our numbers up far higher than 15/16 players capable of playing at CL level?
    Wouldn’t expect ourselves to get a full 25man squad capable of doing so, especially with the transfer market we operate within?
    But over our last 3 European ventures, we still were capable of forming decent enough teams, but without the squad depth really in place either?
    Therefore when injuries impact ourselves like the last 2 CL campaigns, where we haven’t been able to field our strongest 11 in the last 12 CL matches?
    Squad depth might be finally starting to get addressed, when we have to be closing the gap between 1st and 2nd choice player’s in each position imo?
    Still a fair way to go before it’s achieved but surely that now has to be our aim for a Celtic squad in future imo?
    Rodgers still struggling to be getting the same performance levels from so many of our established treble winning players, remains a massive concern and major disappointment from Rodgers this season imo?
    But still enough time within the remainder of this season for all to redeem themselves yet within our season of inconsistencies imo?

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