Because Italian outfit Fiorentina failed to beat Czech side Viktoria Plzen last night in the Europa Conference League, Scotland dropped out of the UEFA coefficient rankings top 10 (RecordSport).
This means that Celtic won’t automatically get to the Champions League’s initial league phase from the 2025/26 version of the tournament onwards if they win the league and rather, will have to go through one round of qualifying to get there.
This news comes as a significant blow to the Hoops. The current campaign will now be the last – for at least a while – in which the winners of the league directly get into the next season’s Champions League.
This makes it all the more crucial that the Hoops bring home the title and don’t have to go through dreaded qualifiers which they will be subject to from next summer onwards.
Travelling to bizarre European countries before the league season begins is something no player or fan relishes but from 2025, regardless if Celtic wins the championship, they will still have to go through them to gain a seat at European football’s top table.
