Second‑Leg Stakes
Celtic head to the Raiffeisen Arena on Tuesday night for the decisive second leg of the Champions League playoff against Austrian side LASK. With a 3‑0 aggregate lead from the first‑leg win in Glasgow, Martin O’Neill’s men are heavy favourites to secure a spot in the 2026/27 League Phase. A loss would see the club drop into the Europa League, entering at the League Phase.
Draw Details
The Champions League draw for the 2026/27 season takes place on Thursday, 27 August at 5pm UK time in the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. UEFA will release seedings and pots from 7.30am UK time. The draw will be televised on TNT Sports 1 in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and streamed via the HBO Max App (the new official streaming platform replacing discovery+), the UEFA website and UEFA’s YouTube channel.
Potential Opponents
If Celtic progress, they will enter the competition proper on 8 September. Teams are seeded into four pots of nine based on UEFA club coefficients. Celtic are expected to be placed in Pot 3 or Pot 4, depending on the outcomes of the other playoff ties. The list of clubs that have already qualified includes: - Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Napoli, AS Roma, FC Como, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atletico Madrid, Real Betis, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Stuttgart, Paris Saint-Germain, RC Lens, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord, Porto, Club Brugge, Slavia Prague, Galatasaray, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting CP.
Celtic will face two opponents from the same pot, playing one home and one away match. The exact pairings will be determined by the draw.
The outcome of Tuesday’s match will decide whether Celtic return to Europe’s premier competition or drop into the Europa League. The draw itself will reveal the full schedule for the League Phase, and fans will be able to follow it live on TNT Sports 1 or via the HBO Max App.
Celtic will know their fate on Tuesday night, and the draw will set the stage for the remainder of the campaign.
