Celtic now have a better chance to reach the Champions League group stage, thanks to a big surprise in Croatian football. Rijeka won the Croatian league on the final day, which means Celtic will be one of the seeded teams for the play-off round. This gives them an easier draw, at least on paper.

Before this happened, Celtic were not sure if they would be seeded. Eight clubs with higher UEFA rankings were in front of them. Some had already dropped out – Olympiacos, Shakhtar Donetsk, and RB Salzburg. Celtic needed one more club – Red Star Belgrade, Dinamo Zagreb, FC Copenhagen, or Ferencvaros – to miss out too. Rijeka’s title win made that happen.

Rijeka beat Slaven Belupo 1-0 to win the league. They finished on the same points and goal difference as Dinamo Zagreb. But Croatia has a special rule: after round 35, the tiebreaker changes from goal difference to head-to-head results. Rijeka had beaten Dinamo 4-0 earlier in the season, and that helped them take the title.

Now that Dinamo are out, Celtic move into the seeded side of the play-off draw. This means they won’t have to play against the highest-ranked teams in that round.

Who Celtic Could Face

With Celtic now seeded, they’ll face a team from the unseeded side in the play-off. Some clubs are already confirmed in that group, like FC Basel from Switzerland and Sturm Graz from Austria. Others who could be there include FCSB (Romania), Lech Poznan (Poland), Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), and even Rijeka – the team that just helped Celtic by winning their league.

There are also other teams with lower UEFA rankings who are trying to qualify through earlier rounds. These include Malmo (Sweden), Ludogorets (Bulgaria), and Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia). The full list of unseeded teams won’t be final until all the early qualifiers are played.

This seeding boost is good news for Celtic. It gives them a better chance to get past the play-off and into the group stage. That would mean more big European nights and a lot of extra money for the club.