It's been obvious for some time that 2022/23 will bring a season like no other across world football.
That may sound like a line designed to sell you a Sky Sports package but in this instance it really is just a fact.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup is set to intersect the domestic football campaign this winter and that has had knock-on-effects in a number of areas.
The most obvious is the extent it will affect fixture scheduling.
For example, the Scottish Premiership winter break has been brought forward to November 12, with the season then resuming the week before Christmas.
This will coincide with a separate scheduling switch-up for champions-in-waiting Celtic.
A draw with Rangers on Sunday moved Ange Postecoglou 's side one step closer to the league title and the promise of a place in the Champions League group stage.
Even UEFA 's flagship tournament is making changes to accommodate the World Cup and it's arguably a plus for fans who will be desperate to see their side back at the continent's top table.
The group stage, with the exception of the Covid-hit 2020/21 tournament, traditionally gets under way in the third week of September and rounds off in early December.
But that schedule conflicts with the World Cup kicking off on November 21, meaning Celtic will play their first group stage fixture on either September 6 or 7.
Perhaps the key change, however, is that the six matches must be truncated to finish up in time for Qatar.
Where group stage matches would usually take place fortnightly, UEFA has cut that down to just a week at various points.
With the exception of a three week break between match days two and three to fit in an international break and two weeks between match day four and five, Celtic will be playing group stage matches every seven days, leading right up until the Premiership winter shutdown.
So while Postecoglou and his players will escape the treacherous summer qualifying slog, they will go straight into a testing period at home and abroad.
All these changes have impacted domestic competition, too, with the Premier Sports Cup starting later for the top Premiership sides.
Where Celtic played their last 16 tie with Hearts on August 15 last year, they now won't enter the competition until August 30/31.
The semi-finals and final have also been pushed back until early 2023.
Familiarity remains, at least, with the Premiership start date with league action set to get under way on July 30/31, as it did last season.
Champions League group stage fixtures in full
Match day 1 - September 6/7, 2022
Match day 2 - September 13/14, 2022
Match day 3 - October 4/5, 2022
Match day 4 - October 11/12, 2022
Match day 5 - October 24/25, 2022
Match day 6 - November 1/2, 2022
