Did Celtic’s path to the Champions League become easier?

With UEFA officially releasing the new dates for the 2020-2021 Champions League schedule, Celtic has a much clearer picture of qualification.

Per the UEFA website Wednesday morning, all the normal dates for qualification and the further rounds have essentially been delayed due to the continuation of many European domestic leagues’ play now ending in August. This could have some decent implications for Celtic.

The preliminary qualification round will now begin on August 8 rather than the previous date of June 23, followed by the first qualification round on August 18 and 19. The second qualifying round will follow the next week on August 25 and 26, with the third qualifying round taking place in mid-September.

The qualifying playoffs are set for September 22-30, leading into the group stage which will take place from October 20 until December 9.

Finally, the knockout stages are set as follows:

• February 16 – March 17: Round of 16
• April 6 – 14: Quarter-finals
• April 27 – May 5: Semi-finals

The final, set to play in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium, is scheduled for May 29, 2021, as of now. The stadium previously hosted the 2005 Champions League Final, which resulted in a victory for English-side Liverpool FC after a penalty shootout against Italian-side A.C. Milan.

With Celtic set to join in the first qualifying round after securing their ninth-straight League title, fans can mark their calendars for an August 18-19 return to European play. Each qualifier will be a single leg and how that will be determined is still undecided. Perhaps the seeded club would be awarded the home match which could benefit Celtic greatly.

The squad had entered in the same round this past campaign, being knocked down to Europa League play in the third qualifying round by Romanian-side CFR Cluj on a hard-fought 5-4 aggregate.

In European League play, the Bhoys handily defeated Swedish club AIK in the playoff round on a 6-1 aggregate, going on to then win Group E over CFR Cluj, Lazio, and Rennes with 13 points from six matches.

Unfortunately, the squad was later eliminated in the Round of 32 by FC Copenhagen of Denmark on a 4-2 aggregate.

However, with Lennon’s side chasing a historic 10-in-a-row next season, they could very well contend to make history in the Champions League as well, as they did 50 years ago.