There will be 10 clubs in the Playoff Round, ready to battle it out for a shot at the Champions League League Phase proper and we now have a very clear picture of who stands between Celtic and at least 8-games on the biggest stage of club football.
Following second leg results on Tuesday 28 July, we now have confirmation of two unseeded teams; LASK of Austria, and Viking of Norway. Barring any shocks in the second legs involving Red Star Belgrade, Slovan Bratislava and Lech Poznan, who all hold significant leads from the first legs, AEK Athens will also be unseeded and available to be drawn against Celtic in the Playoff Round. With the final two spots still up for grabs in Qualifying Round 3 (QR3).
The draw for the Playoff Round is made on Monday 03 August 2026, which is before the results of the 3rd qualifying round are known. Pairs of clubs of the 3rd qualifying round are seeded by the highest ranking of the clubs involved.
For example: Red Star Belgrade will be seeded for the Playoff Round, should they navigate their QR2 and QR3 rounds vs Larne and the subsequent winner of Vikingur Reykjavik/Hapoel Be’er Sheva. However, should they progress to QR3 and then lose to the winner of Vikingur Reykajik/Hapoel Be’er Sheva in QR3, Vikingur Reykajik/Hapoel Be’er Sheva would be seeded as the Playoff Round draw is made prior to the results of QR3, with Red Star Belgrade’s ranking being highest between themselves and their opponents – still with me? Good.
So, who could Celtic face? Let’s lay it out in black and white, with the assumption that there are no shocks in the aforementioned ties.
- AEK Athens
- LASK
- Viking
- The winners of QR3 between NK Celje vs Ararat-Armenia
- The eventual QR3 winners of Omonia / Kairat Almaty vs Levski Sofia / Universitatea
- Craiova
- The winners of the QR2 tie between Neil Lennon’s former Cypriot side, Omonia, and our Kazakh foes from Almaty last season will face the winners of Levski Sofia / Universitatea Craiova. The winners of the eventual QR3 tie will be unseeded. Omonia and Levski Sofia both take 1–0 leads into the second legs at Almaty and Craiova, with the return legs taking place on 29 July 2026.
In my opinion, and I will whisper it quietly, I am confident Celtic can progress from the Playoff Round however, I would like to avoid AEK Athens, who are by far and away the best-ranked club available for us to be drawn against currently. To avoid a rematch from our 2018/19 qualifying campaign, we would need one of the following teams to exit the competition on 29 July 2026:
- Slovan Bratislava
- Lech Poznan
- Red Star Belgrade
At the time of writing, the first legs from QR2, that would directly affect AEK Athens’ seeding status, have taken place with the following results:
- Iberia 1999 0–2 Slovan Bratislava
- AFG Aarhus 1–4 Lech Poznan
- Larne 0–4 Red Star
I would say it is safe to assume that AEK Athens will sadly be unseeded.
The draw for the Playoff Round is made on 03 August 2026, with the first leg taking place on 18 / 19 August 2026 and the return leg taking place on 25 / 26 August 2026.
If you would like to keep informed, you can follow me on twitter / X @LK95_ where I will keep track of all of the above so you don’t have to, and once the picture becomes all that bit clearer, and not still a list of 9 teams, I will return with a breakdown of our opponents.
AEK. Another Early Knockout