Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Chris Flanagan

Explained: Why Fiorentina have cost Celtic and Rangers an automatic Champions League group stage spot

Viktoria Plzen took on Fiorentina.

Celtic and Rangers have lost their automatic place in the Champions League group stage for 2025/26 – because Fiorentina failed to win at Viktoria Plzen on Thursday night.

The Scottish Premiership champions have qualified directly for the group stage in each of the past three campaigns, and will do so again next season too. But only the top 10 countries in UEFA’s club rankings receive automatic spots, and it’s now been confirmed that Scotland have fallen outside of the top 10 following their clubs’ performance in Europe this season.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.