SHOCK TROOPS CLUJ LIE IN WAIT FOR CELTS AGAIN

CELTIC will be seeded again for the second qualifying round draw at 11am today in Nyon.

The Hoops have four hurdles to clear if they want to book a group stage spot for the first time in three years, and will be seeded for all qualifying stages as they enter through the champions path.

A home clash with KR Reykjavik in QR1 should pose few problems, but the quality of opposition will rise rapidly assuming the Icelanders don’t spring a shock.

Potential second round opponents include Romanians Cluj, with memories of last year’s flop against them still fresh.

Danes Midtjylland – beaten by

Rangers in last season’s Europa League – are another of 10 potential opponents, as are Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol, Ferencvaros from Hungary and Irish champions Dundalk.

To further complicate matters, should Celtic draw a home tie against a side from a country where the UK has travel restrictions then they must propose an alternative venue where the match can take place or else they will be deemed to have forfeited the match.

Should the away side come from a country which has restrictions in place then the home side must propose an alternative venue – otherwise UEFA will decide on one.

The QR2 matches will take place a week after the Reykjavik encounter, on August 25/26, and will again be one-legged affairs.

Only at the play-off stage will qualifying revert to the usual two legs after UEFA’s changes to their competitions to try and overcome the weeks lost to the coronavirus shutdown.

Should Celtic flop at QR2 then they will at least have the fallback of dropping into the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage.