Hoops have one foot in the competition after convincing play-off triumph
Celtic could face the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool in the Champions League first phase among several other glamour ties.
The Hoops defeated LASK Linz of Austria 3-0 in the first leg of their qualification play-off under the lights at Celtic Park. Midfielder Benjamin Nygren bagged the opener to make it four goals in four for the season, followed by a brace from forward Camilo Duran. While the Austrian champions had several chances at the other end, the commanding Celtic lead going into the second leg next week means it would take a comeback of epic proportions to overturn the deficit.
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Manager Martin O’Neill claimed after the game that the tie was still ‘in the balance’, however the cries from the home fans of ‘doing the huddle in the Champions League’ suggests they’re confident Celtic will be able to see it out in Austria. Here’s a look the projected teams the champions could face if they make it to Europe’s most elite competition:
Celtic's last match in the Champions League was back in February 2018 against Bayern Munich.placeholder image
Celtic's last match in the Champions League was back in February 2018 against Bayern Munich. | Getty Images
Celtic’s potential Champions League opponents
29 of the 36 league phase clubs have already secured their Champions League status. If Celtic qualify, they’d go into pot four due to their UEFA co-efficient ranking. In the league phase, each team will face eight different teams once, with four home matches and four away matches.
English giants Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are in pot one, alongside back-to-back champions PSG of France. Bayern Munich of Germany and Inter Milan of Italy are also here after winning their respective leagues, along with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid of Spain. Pot two consists of more English powerhouses including Europa League winners Aston Villa and Manchester United. Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon and Porto, Spain’s Real Betis, Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven, Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and Belgium’s Club Brugge will join them in the hat.
Feyenoord of the Netherlands, Lille of France, Napoli of Italy, RB Leipzig of Germany, Villarreal of Spain, Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine and Galatasaray of Turkey are all guaranteed to enter the draw in pot three. They are likely to be joined by Norwegian side Bodo Glimt after they defeated Dutch side NEC Nijmegen 3-1 away from home in the first leg. The winner of the play-off between Turkish side Fenerbahce and Lyon of France will also enter this stage. They drew 1-1 in the first leg.
Joining Celtic in pot four will be VFB Stuttgart of Germany - the side that knocked them out of the Europa League last season. Slavia Prague of Czechia, Lyon of France and Como of Italy have also booked their place. The other places are dependant on qualifiers.
Hoops boss insists the tie isn't over yet despite convincing performance.placeholder image
Hoops boss insists the tie isn't over yet despite convincing performance. | Getty Images
Martin O’Neill on LASK victory
After the match, the Hoops boss said: “They (LASK) started the brighter, it took us time to get going," he said. "But when we did we scored a great goal from Nygren to take a bit of the pressure off, and give us the lead. And then Duran’s two goals were fantastic. But the game is absolutely in the balance.
“I am not playing it down at all. We are a long way away, genuinely. Next Tuesday will be a big test for us. Our goals were fantastic, good enough to win any football match. But there is a long way to go yet. We had to be at it every single minute, overall we defended strongly,”