Celtic hopes rise after Champions League draw

Celtic will have a favourable chance of making the Champions League group stage for the third year in succession under Brendan Rodgers if they beat AEK Athens in the third qualifying round.

The play-off draw, made yesterday in Nyon, paired the winners of Celtic’s tie against either Malmo, of Sweden, or MOL Vidi, of Hungary.

Malmo are sixth in the Swedish table, 11 points below AIK, while MOL Vidi are fifth in Hungary, five points behind Ferencvaros. Neither of these sides are as daunting as AEK, the Greek league leaders, who visit Celtic Park for the first leg of their qualifier tomorrow.

In the Europa League, Rangers have a similarly tough hurdle to clear in the shape of Maribor, who have not conceded a goal in four qualifying matches, and who play at Ibrox in the first leg of the thirdround qualifier on Thursday.

Maribor accounted for Rangers on a 3-2 aggregate in the play-off for the group stage in August 2011, a defeat with consequential loss of income which contributed to the financial meltdown at Ibrox.

If Steven Gerrard’s men reverse that outcome against the Slovenian side they will meet either FC Ufa, of Russia, or Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg. Progres Niederkorn knocked Rangers out of this competition in the first qualifying round last year.

Should Hibernian get past Molde, of Norway, they will meet Dinamo Minsk or Zenit St Petersburg. Champions League play-off draw