
Celtic discover Champions League play-off draw fate as Hoops learn who stands in their way of £40m Euro prize
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
CELTIC know who stands in their way of a place in this year's Champions League league phase.
Unlike recent seasons, the Hoops have NOT been guaranteed a place among Europe's elite.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
2
Celtic are about to enter the Champions League
Credit: Getty
2
Brendan Rodgers is hoping to lead Celtic back to the promised land
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
This time around, Brendan Rodgers' men have to quality.
Celtic enter the Champions League at the play-off round stage, with a two-legged tie all that stands between the Scottish champions and one of the 36 spots in the league phase.
Now, Rodgers and his players know who'll they'll be facing.
Celtic have been drawn to face Kairat Almat or Slovan Bratislava.
They will be at HOME first.
There are still a couple of weeks to go until the Hoops enter the European stage.
That's because the third qualifying round is still to take place.
The teams competing at that stage - including Rangers - will play their first legs this midweek before the return games next week.
Then, it'll be time for the play-off round with the matches taking place over 19/20 August and 26/27 August.
More to follow...
For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Scottish Sun.
Thescottishsun.co.uk is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thescottishsun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheScottishSun.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Metro
28 minutes ago
- Metro
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Man City? Tim Howard makes title race prediction
Tim Howard has named the 'frontrunners' to clinch the Premier League trophy this season – and feels there's a second team who are a 'wildcard'. The ex-Manchester United and Everton goalkeeper feels four clubs will be in the 2025-26 title race – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal have finished as runners-up for the last three seasons in a row and are desperate to get their hands on the trophy for the first time since 2004. Chelsea are also in the mix after making huge improvements under their head coach Enzo Maresca, winning the Club World Cup over the summer. Liverpool, meanwhile, are the defending champions of England having won the top-flight title in Arne Slot's debut season as their manager last term. In The Mixer: Exclusive analysis, FPL tips and transfer talk sent straight to your inbox every week – click here and sign up before Friday to make sure you don't miss the first edition. City cannot be discounted either, having landed four Premier League trophies in a row before Liverpool ended their winning streak last season. Quizzed for his thoughts on the 2025-26 title race at the Premier League Summer Series pre-season tournament, Howard told Sky Sports: 'Liverpool, for me, are the frontrunners. 'They've made incredible signings. They're going to start the season flying, I know it. Milos Kerkez – Bournemouth, £40m Florian Wirtz – Bayer Leverkusen, £116m Jeremie Frimpong – Bayer Leverkusen, £29.5m Giorgi Mamardashvili – Valencia, £29m Hugo Ekitike – Eintracht Frankfurt, £79m Armin Pecsi – Puskas Akademia, £1.5m Freddie Woodman – Preston, free '[But] I can't bet against Pep Guardiola. They've only had one bad season under him. They could come good. 'Arsenal have done amazing business [too] – they got their No.9 (Viktor Gyokeres) so they could really challenge.' 'Chelsea is the wildcard,' Howard added. 'The won a European title (the 2024-25 Conference League) and the Club World Cup. 'I'm thinking, 'This is coming together really quick' – quicker than I thought. Jamie Gittens – Dortmund, £51.5m Joao Pedro – Brighton, £60m Liam Delap – Ipswich, £30m Jorrel Hato – Ajax, £38.5m Estevao Willian – Palmeiras, £29m Dario Essugo – Sporting, £18.5m Mamadou Sarr – RC Strasbourg, £12m Kendry Paez – Independiente del Valle, £17.3m 'For me, that will be the Premier League top four. I also think it will be tight because all of these teams will take points off each other. More Trending 'But Liverpool are the frontrunners.' Liverpool host AFC Bournemouth in their first Premier League match of the new season on August 15, while City take on Wolves on August 16. Arsenal and Chelsea both play their opening matches on August 17, against Ruben Amorim's United and Crystal Palace respectively. MORE: Andre Onana provides injury update after 'difficult weeks' with hamstring problem MORE: Chelsea to sell £53m midfield duo after just five Premier League starts MORE: Jeremy Jacquet responds to Arsenal transfer approach


Scottish Sun
28 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Anfield evacuated less than an hour before Liverpool's double-header friendly with Athletic Bilbao
The club have issued a statement on the incident STADIUM ALARM Anfield evacuated less than an hour before Liverpool's double-header friendly with Athletic Bilbao ANFIELD had to be evacuated just minutes before Liverpool's pre-season friendlies with Athletic Bilbao. The Reds welcomed the Spanish big boys to their famous home on Monday for a rare same-day doubleheader. 4 Anfield was evacuated minutes before Liverpool's pre-season friendly with Athletic Bilbao Credit: GETTY 4 Several fans had already taken to their seats ahead of the 5pm kick-off Credit: Reuters 4 Fans promptly followed the instructions and left the stadium Credit: REUTERS But stadium staff were forced to perform an emergency evacuation just minutes before the first kick-off, which was scheduled for 5pm, due to a false alarm. Several supporters had already taken to their seats when the alarm sounded and staff ordered them to leave the ground. The Kop club, thankfully, soon revealed that the evacuation was sparked by a false alarm. A club statement read: "Shortly before 15:50pm there was a false alarm in the Anfield Main Stand, leading to supporters in that area of the stadium to be temporarily evacuated. "Fans are now being let back into the Main Stand and there is no expected delay to KO. "Thank you for everyone's co-operation." Liverpool's second straight showdown with Bilbao will commence at 8pm. The Merseysiders revealed the starting XI for the first match just minutes before the alarm sounded. 4 The evacuation stemmed from a false alarm Credit: AFP Liverpool starting XI to face Athletic Bilbao: Woodman, Nunez, Mac Allister, Jones, Elliott, Tsimikas, Robertson, Nyoni, Doak, Ngumoha, Stephenson THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunFootball.


Scottish Sun
28 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Cyriel Dessers Rangers transfer exit on pause as interested club set to sign ex-Real Madrid and Champions League winner
Cyriel Dessers has looked likely to leave Rangers this summer, but a rumoured deal look like it's off LUKA AT THAT Cyriel Dessers Rangers transfer exit on pause as interested club set to sign ex-Real Madrid and Champions League winner Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) RANGERS star Cyriel Dessers has been heavily rumoured with a move away from the Light Blues this summer. Gers boss Russell Martin even confirmed after the Motherwell game on Saturday that the club have received bids for the Nigerian forward this summer. Sign up for the Rangers newsletter Sign up 3 Dessers move to AEK looks like it could be off Credit: SNS 3 That's because former Real Madrid star looks set to join the Greek giants Credit: Getty AEK Athens has been the name most heavily linked with the Gers star, who still has two years left on his deal at the Ibrox side. However it looks like Dessers moving to Greece could be OFF. Former Real Madrid and Champions League winning star Luka Jovic looks set to sign for the Greek side. Fabrizio Romano has said on X that the 27 year old will sign a deal until 2027 with AEK, despite clubs in Spain chasing his signature. It was reported that Dessers had even agreed personal terms with the Greek side, but Ibrox chiefs were determined to hold out for more money for the striker. 30 year old Dessers has scored 51 goals for the Gers and also bagged last seasons Scottish Premiership golden boot and Rangers top scorer. Despite his half century of goals, Dessers has become a Marmite figure amongst the Rangers support. Rangers season started against Motherwell at the weekend, with Dessers coming off the bench for the last half an hour. He couldn't add to his 51 goals in Light Blue, and a late Motherwell equaliser made it three seasons in a row where Rangers have failed to win their opening league fixture. The result caused a scathing post match interview from Gers boss Russell Martin. Motherwell and Rangers fans displays ahead of Premiership opener Speaking to Sky Sports, he said : "We were very lucky to get a point. "I'm extremely disappointed and hurt by that. "They were braver than us, they were more aggressive than us, and I've said to the players, I've been really honest with them - there is a default here at this football club. "It's not one person's fault at all. "The default is to revert to type, which is when it's going really well, everyone's all in, it's really good, but it's not going well, you protect yourself a little bit, and the self-preservation stuff. "You can't play for this club and enjoy the really good moments, and not when it gets tough. "You have to be all in all the time, and we had two men on the pitch today that want to do what they want to do." Rangers will have to dust themselves off as they have another Champions League qualifier to attend to this week, taking on Viktoria Plzen. 3 Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page