Celtic start Champions League qualifying quest against Alashkert of Armenia

Published on: 19 June 2018

Celtic's seventh top-flight win in a row secured them a Champions League qualifying place

Celtic will meet Alashkert of Armenia in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.

Brendan Rodgers' side will also discover their potential second qualifying round opponents at Tuesday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland.

Celtic will be away from home in the first leg, played on 10-11 July, with the return in Glasgow on 17-18 July.

The Scottish champions are seeking a third successive appearance in the group stage.

    Brown eager for Champions League return

Alashkert, who won their domestic title by six points, knocked St Johnstone out of Europa League qualifying in 2015, going through on away goals after a 2-1 defeat in Perth.

In the past two seasons they have been knocked out in the second qualifying round of Europe's premier competition.

Second qualifying round ties will be played on 24-25 July and 31 July-1 August.

Aberdeen, Hibernian and Rangers are involved in the main Europa League first and second qualifying round draws on Wednesday.

Four rounds for Celtic to reach group stage

Celtic, who have won two Champions League qualifying rounds and a play-off in each of the past two seasons, will need to successfully negotiate four two-legged rounds to reach the group stage again.

Rodgers has won all of his Champions League qualifying and play-off ties as Celtic manager

If Celtic lose at any stage of the qualifiers or the play-off, they will drop into the next Europa League round.

The Champions League first qualifying round features only league winners and the next round features 10 ties involving league winners and two ties featuring domestic league runners-up.

The third qualifying round draw will take place on 23 July and the play-off round draw will be on 6 August.

Source: bbc.com

Comments