THE dust has just about settled from the first round of the Champions League qualifiers, with Celtic advancing to the next round at the expense of FK Sarajevo. Neil Lennon's side went through 5-2 on aggregate and will now face Estonia's Nomme Kalju in the next round of qualifying.
While the Estonian champions are unlikely to be pushovers, Celtic supporters will be expecting their side to progress to the next round of qualifying. And while many fans were undoubtedly pleased with a relatively easy draw in the second round, things might not be quite as easy in the third if Celtic make it.
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The third round draw will go ahead on Monday afternoon and Celtic risk being drawn against a club with greater European pedigree than their Estonian opponents in the second round. Greek champions PAOK enter the competition at this stage, as do last season's semi-finalists Ajax. Thankfully for Celtic fans, however, there is no chance of Neil Lennon's side being drawn against the Dutch giants.
The 12 clubs that make up the Champions route in the third round are drawn into two groups; six clubs are seeded, while the other six are not. Celtic, should they qualify, will be a seeded team and as a result cannot be drawn against Ajax, Copenhagen, APOEL or BATE Borisov.
READ MORE: What sort of threat do Nomme Kalju pose to Celtic?
The teams that Celtic can be drawn against are as follows:
- PAOK
- Qarabag v Dundalk (winner)
- Maribor v AIK (winner)
- Red Star Belgrade v HJK Helsinki (winner)
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv v Cluj (winner)
- Valletta v Ferencvaros (winner)
A worst-case scenario for Celtic fans, then, could see the club pitted against the likes of PAOK, Maribor or Qarabag. A more favourable draw, on the other hand, would see Celtic up against the winners of Valletta v Ferencvaros.
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Should Celtic make it to the play-off round, the Scottish champions could end up facing BATE Borisov, Young Boys Bern, APOEL or Slavia Prague.
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