Celtic will be making their long-awaited return to the UEFA Champions League this season. The Hoops have been gone from Europe’s elite competition for way too long and are now finally back where they belong. The fans are already counting down the days to when that famous anthem will hit inside Parkhead once again. One can only imagine the atmosphere.
Celtic have been placed in Pot 4 this time around, following their Premiership triumph last season over the Rangers, overcoming all odds and expectations. Most people had believed that the Ibrox club would have a cakewalk to the title but instead, Ange Postecoglou’s side ended up winning comfortably by four points, despite having lost three of their opening six league games.
Celtic will know that they will come up against some of the best of the best in Europe this time around, as a result of being placed in Pot 4.
And while all the spots have not been filled in the draw yet, every team that Celtic could end up facing in the group stage is now confirmed after Benfica sealed their place in the competition.
Every team Celtic could draw in the Champions League group stage has been confirmed
As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the first three pots for this season’s Champions League group stage draw are:
Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto and Ajax have been placed in Pot 1.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig and Tottenham Hotspur have been placed in Pot 2.
Borussia Dortmund, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting CP, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen have been placed in Pot 3.
Thus, it goes without saying that there will be no easy games for Celtic in the Champions League. And looking at those three pots, it feels like the best case scenario for them would involve getting drawn against FC Porto or Ajax, RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg or Shakhtar Donetsk.