Celtic will face either Kairat Almaty or Slovan Bratislava in the play-off round for the Champions League.
Requiring to clear one hurdle if they are to make it back to the group stage, Brendan Rodgers’ side now know they’ll have to defeat either the men from Kazakhstan or Slovakia at the end of this month.
The Parkhead outfit are due to be at home first on August 19/20, with the away leg the following week.
Celtic haven’t faced Kairat before, but they did beat fellow Kazakh outfit Astana 8-4 on aggregate in the play-off round in 2017-18. They also beat Astana 3-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round the previous year. Both of those ties were under Rodgers.
Prior to that, the side led by Neil Lennon famously defeated Shakhter’s Karagandy 3-2 on aggregate in the 2013-14 play-off round.
Rodgers’ men would also be confident of seeing off Slovan after thumping them 5-1 in Glasgow on the opening night of last year’s group stage.
Brendan Rodgers knows his side have a very presentable chance to reach the group stage
Daizen Maeda celebrates scoring against Slovan Bratislava in the 5-1 win last season
Kazakhstan champions Kairat saw off Slovenian side Olimpia Ljubljana in the first round
Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah all netted as Celtic got their campaign off to a flier.
Kairat host Slovan on Wednesday with the return leg in Slovakia next Tuesday. Both sides won their respective titles last season.
Meanwhile, Rangers will face either Club Brugge or Salzburg if they can get past Viktoria Plzen.
Conquerors of Panathinaikos, Russell Martin’s men face the Czechs at Ibrox tomorrow with the return leg a week later.
Findlay Curtis scores to secure a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge at Ibrox in pre-season
Either Brugge or Salzburg would make for a tough opponent. The Belgians finished runners-up in their domestic league, won the Belgian Cup and reached the last 16 of the Champions League. Martin’s men drew 2-2 with them in a pre-season friendly.
Last season, Salzburg were also second in their league and finished third bottom of the 36-team Champions League group.
Were Rangers to get through, they’d also be at home first.
