Celtic to be part of massive UEFA Champions League change

Celtic will be making their return to the UEFA Champions League group stage after several years. The Hoops had failed to qualify for Europe’s elite competition for quite a while but winning the Premiership last time around meant that they were guaranteed a spot. There could still be two clubs from Scotland in the final 32, but the Rangers’ hopes suffered a massive blow following their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Royale Union SG in the first leg of the third qualifying round.

It remains to be seen what ends up happening with the Ibrox club, but fortunately for Celtic, they do not have to worry about getting past the gruelling UEFA Champions League qualifying phase this time around.

Celtic are also guaranteed to be part of history this time around in the UEFA Champions League, as new technology will be introduced into the competition.

As reported by ESPN, UEFA has announced that it will start using the new Semi-Automated Offside Technology from the Champions League group stage this season. The aim is to make the process more accurate and quick, as this system will replace the VARs manually linking lines across the pitch to players and selecting when the ball has been kicked.

Celtic to be part of major UEFA Champions League change

This is certainly a step in the right direction. Two of the biggest complaints that fans have had with offside calls using VAR are the time that it takes and the questionable accuracy of it. This new system aims to address both of those issues.

Some might feel that it takes away the human aspect of making mistakes but at the end of the day, offsides are always a factual call. Whether you are offside or you are not.

At first glance, it feels like this will improve the game. Now, it remains to be seen how effective it is during implementation.