Celtic would steer clear of Belfast Euro qualifier on July 12

Scottish champions Celtic will play Northern Ireland’s Linfield or La Fiorita, of San Marino, in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.

Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops, who reached the group stages last season, will begin their competitive season when the tie takes place over two legs on July 11 or 12 and 18 or 19.

Their opponents will become clear in the first week of July after Linfield and La Florita have played each other in the first qualifying round.

With Celtic drawn away for the first leg, the possibility of them playing in Belfast on July 12, a key date in the marching calendar, is potentially problematic for security services given past sectarian tensions.

Celtic and Linfield are understood to have agreed to hold the first leg on Tuesday, July 11 (5pm) to avoid clashing with the July 12 marches, should Linfield reach that stage.

Linfield chairman Roy McGivern said: “We’ve had a chat with Uefa and we had ruled out July 12 for obvious reasons, purely from a practical point of view.

“Our preference is to play the home leg first, for financial reasons that’s obviously the best thing for us.

“At this stage the first leg would be on July 11. There are discussions going on with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to see how that would be managed. That is the preferred option but there have been no discussions about switching the games at all.

“Celtic are relaxed and they seem happy enough to play in Belfast on July 11.”