Champions League qualifying: Celtic play Linfield or SP La Fiorita, The New Saints face Europa
- Published
Celtic dropped only eight points in winning a sixth successive Scottish top-flight title
Celtic will play Northern Irish champions Linfield or San Marino's SP La Fiorita in the second qualifying round of the Champions League.
Belfast's Linfield and SP La Fiorita will play in the first qualifying round with the winners taking on Brendan Rodgers' treble winners, who were seeded in the draw in Nyon., external
Celtic will play away from home first.
Also entering in the first round are Welsh side The New Saints, who will play Gibraltar's Europa.
Celtic were seeded in Group Three, along with Poland's Legia Warsaw, Maribor of Slovenia, Swedish outfit Malmo, Rosenborg of Norway and Iceland's Hafnarfjordur.
The first qualifying round first-leg ties will be on 27 or 28 June with the return legs on 4 or 5 July. The dates for the second qualifying round ties are 11/12 July and 18/19 July.
Last season, Celtic came through the second and third qualifying rounds, and then the play-off round, to reach the group stage, finishing bottom of their section.
Lowdown on Linfield |
|---|
Founded in 1886 and play at Belfast's Windsor Park. Linfield have never been relegated and have been champions 52 times, the second highest tally of national top-flight titles in world football |
Never progressed beyond the second qualifying round of the expanded Champions League |
Managed by former Manchester United and Rangers striker David Healy, Northern Ireland's all-time leading scorer |
Former Rangers players Roy Carroll and Andrew Mitchell are members of the current squad |
Last season's title win was the club's first in five years, and last season they were knocked out of the Europa League first qualifying round by Cork City |
Celtic drew twice with Manchester City in last season's Champions League group phase
S.P. La Fiorita |
|---|
Founded in 1967 and play in Girone A, the top-flight of San Marino league football. They have won the division four times and are currently managed by Nicola Berardi |
Played in first qualifying round of the Champions League once before, in 2014-15 - losing 8-0 on aggregate to Levadia Tallinn of Estonia. |
In five European ties, they have scored one goal and conceded 35 |
Top scorer last season was the Italian Marco Martini, who scored 27 goals in 26 appearances. |
Champions League first qualifying round
Vikingur (Faroe Isles) v Trepca '89 (Kosovo)
Hibernians (Malta) v Tallinn (Estonia)
Alashkert (Armenia) v Santa Coloma (Andorra)
The New Saints v Europa (Gibraltar)
Linfield v SP La Fiorita (San Marino)
Champions League second qualifying round
Group 1
Apoel (Cyprus) v Dudelange (Luxembourg)
Zalgiris (Lithuania) v Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria)
Qarabag (Azerbaijan) v Samtredia (Georgia)
Partizan (Serbia) v Budućnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
Hibernians (Malta) or FCI Tallinn (Estonia) v Salzburg (Austria)
Group 2
Sheriff (Moldova) v Kukes (Albania)
Astana (Kazakhstan) v Spartaks Jurmala (Latvia)
BATE Borisov (Belarus) v Alashkert (Armenia) or FC Santa Coloma (Andorra)
Zilina (Slovakia) v Copenhagen (Denmark)
Hapoel Beer-Sheva (Israel) v Budapest Honvéd (Hungary)
Rijeka (Croatia) v The New Saints or Europa (Gibraltar)
Group 3
Malmo (Sweden) v Vardar (Macedonia)
Zrinjski (Bosnia and Herzegovina) v Maribor (Slovenia)
Dundalk (Ireland) v Rosenborg (Norway)
FH Hafnarfjördur (Iceland) v Víkingur (Faroe Islands) or Trepça '89 (Kosovo)
Linfield or SP La Fiorita (San Marino) v Celtic
IFK Mariehamn (Finland) v Legia Warszawa (Poland)
- Published19 June 2017
- Published19 June 2017
- Published17 June 2017
- Published18 June 2017
