Celtic will find out their Champions League group stage fate today.
For the second season running, the Parkhead club qualified automatically for the tournament by reigning supreme in Scotland.
Last term didn't exactly go to plan with the Hoops finishing bottom of their group, which included Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, and Shakhtar Donetsk.
They will be hoping to get on better in the 2023/24 campaign.
Here are all of the details you need to know ahead of the draw...
How are the Champions League pots looking currently?
With just over 24 hours until the UEFA Champions League draw, anticipation is building up for the 29 teams who have qualified.
This includes Rodgers’ Celtic side, who gained automatic qualification during Ange Postecoglou’s triumphant Scottish Premiership season. Although three teams are yet to qualify, the majority of pot allocations have been made. This includes Premier League treble winners Manchester City, La Liga’s current title-holders Real Madrid, and Serie A’s top dog AC Milan.
Pot 1 has been finalised, through reserved allocations for reigning champions as well as placements based on title-holders across the six highest-ranked leagues according to UEFA's association coefficient. The remaining pots are allocated based on a team’s UEFA club coefficient.
Pot 1:
Man City
Sevilla
Barcelona
Napoli
Bayern Munich
Paris St-Germain
Benfica
Feynoord
Pot 2:
Real Madrid
Manchester United
Inter Milan
Borussia Dortmund
Atletico Madrid
RB Leipzig
Porto
Pot 3:
Shakhtar Donetsk
Salzburg
AC Milan
Braga
Lazio
Red Star Belgrade
One ‘League Path’ Winner
Pot 3 or 4:
Young Boys
One ‘Champions Path’ Winners
Pot 4:
Real Sociedad
Galatasaray
Celtic
Newcastle United
Union Berlin
Lens
One 'Champions Path' winners
Games tonight include:
Copenhagen vs Raków Częstochowa, 20:00 BST
AEK Athens vs Antwerp, 20:00 BTS
PSV vs Rangers, 20:00 BST
After the last three teams have been qualified, all pots will be filled in time for UEFA 2023 Champions League draw tomorrow at 5pm BST.
Best case scenario
After Postecoglou’s exit as manager, Brendan Rodgers was handed his managerial role and he had big boots to fill. After an incredible end to the 2022/23 season in Scotland, Rodgers made some encouraging statements including his European ambitions earlier this summer at a July press conference.
Rodgers said: “We are going into the Champions League and our ambition is to qualify out of that group stage. That is a huge challenge but it’s a challenge we will embrace.
“If not, we want to try and ensure we have got European football after Christmas and go as far as we possibly can.
“You have to be realistic. You can be in a Champions League group with some of the richest teams in the world.
“Of course, you want to be competitive and we can bring our A-game. But the reality against some of these teams is if we both bring our A-game, they will win.
“If you get a bit of luck in the competition, hopefully, we can get out of the group stages.”
In terms of the Champions League, the team will be facing hardship against any of the 32 qualified teams, especially when having to face at least one team in Pot 1. However, a possible draw includes the following teams:
Pot 1 Feyenoord
Pot 2 Porto
Pot 3 FC Copenhagen
Pot 4 Celtic
Could allow Celtic to deliver on Rodgers’ word, and make it out of the group stages, unlike the year prior where under Postecoglou they finished last after losing four out of six group stage matches.
During Rodgers’ first spell as Hoops manager, he too faced hardship in Europe but could his second spell be different?
Worst case scenario
Selling the dream is all good and well, but in an alternate reality Celtic could find themselves in a draw from hell. Facing opponents who are dominating European football and who are rich in all aspects of the game. This draw could include:
Pot 1 Manchester City
Pot 2 Real Madrid
Pot 3 AC Milan
Pot 4 Celtic
This would also mean facing Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland sooner than their UEFA Euros Qualifier game in November. This could be a positive depending on how the players and Rodgers look at it, perhaps from an educational standpoint.
A draw like this would mean that Celtic would have to bring full force from mid-September, which may push the club to make signings sooner rather than later. However, it is right to feel frustrated as the club has suffered through a substantial loss of players. Whether that’s Jota leaving for Saudi, or having Carter-Vickers out on injury.
