Celtic and their struggle for Champions League points this season has a knock on negative impact for qualification in future years. And the bad news is that with other Scottish teams like the Rangers and Hearts getting regularly destroyed on the European stage, they are hurting the coefficient for Scottish clubs.
There was a massive bonus for the Hoops this season in qualifying directly into the Champions League Group stage as Premiership winners. That was huge for the club both financially and in terms of preparation and planning for the new season. Rangers had to win through qualifying and play-off rounds but benefitted from entering at a later stage as league runners up.
Strong coefficient points elevated the Scottish clubs position to give that qualification boost. But as reported by the Scottish Daily Express, Celtic and Rangers’ poor performance in the Champions League this season is set to have a bad effect on Scotland’s standing in the coefficient. Hearts have not done much better in the Conference League. On the other hand, the likes of Belgium and Austria are moving up the chart, with the success of Club Brugge in this Champions League campaign putting the Belgians now just 0.40 points behind the Scots.
The Hoops have certainly had promising moments in their Champions League matches so far. But they have not been able to convert strong performances into points and wins.
Celtic and Rangers handed European headache
Rangers in their Champions League matches and Hearts in the Europa Conference have both had a torrid time. Especially this week with the collapse at Ibrox where Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side were torn apart by Liverpool in a devastating 1-7 result.
On the other hand, Hearts suffered a heavy defeat against Fiorentina as well. There are two glimmers of good news in all this.
Firstly, that goal difference doesn’t affect the coefficient. With the Rangers at a stunningly disastrous -15 from their 4 games so far, there’s the strong likelihood of that increasing even further in their next match away against high flying Napoli
The second bit of good news is the Champions League format being reviewed with changes due for the 2024/2025 season. It’s not clear what that will look like nor how it will impact the Hoops and the other Scottish clubs. The hope is that the coefficient will work differently and minimise the current season’s damage. But it could still be a huge issue.