Champions League: Celtic to face Slavia Prague in play-off if they beat Cluj
- Published
Slavia Prague lost to Chelsea in last season's Europa League quarter-finals
Celtic will face Czech side Slavia Prague in the Champions League play-off round should the Scots defeat Cluj in their third qualifying round.
Neil Lennon's side face the Romanians in the first leg away from home on Wednesday.
Should Celtic lose to Cluj, they drop into the Europa League play-off stage and have been drawn against Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova or AIK of Sweden.
Slavia won their domestic title for a fifth time last season.
The side managed Jindrich Trpisovsky, who qualified directly to the play-off stage, finished four points clear of Viktoria Plzen and completed a domestic league and cup double by defeating Banik Ostrava 2-0.
They also reached the quarter-finals of last season's Europa League, losing 5-3 on aggregate to eventual winners Chelsea having knocked out Spanish side Sevilla in the previous round.
In addition to a sprinkling of Czech Republic internationals, Trpisovsky's squad includes former Anderlecht winger Nicolae Stanciu, who has played 31 times for Romania.
While Scottish clubs have won only six of their 18 ties against teams from Czech Republic or the old Czechoslovakia, Celtic have won all three of theirs, although the last of those was a 3-1 aggregate win over Teplice in the Uefa Cup in 2004.
Meanwhile, last season's beaten semi-finalists, Ajax, will face APOEL of Cyprus or Qarabag of Azerbaijan if the Dutch side overcome PAOK of Greece.
If Red Star Belgrade, who won the trophy in 1991, defeat Denmark's Copenhagen, they will next take on Young Boys of Switzerland.
Porto, the 1987 winners who qualified as runners-up in Portugal, will take on Istanbul Basaksehir of Turkey or Olympiakos of Greece if they defeat Russian side Krasnodar.
Champions League play-off round draw
Champions path
Dinamo (Croatia) or Ferencvaros (Hungary) v Maribor (Slovenia) or Rosenborg (Norway)
Celtic or Cluj (Romania) v Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Young Boys (Switzerland) v Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) or Copenhagen (Denmark)
APOEL (Cyprus) or Qarabag (Azerbaijan) v PAOK (Greece) or Ajax (Netherlands)
League path
Basel (Switzerland) or LASK (Austria) v Bruges (Belgium) or Dinamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey) or Olympiakos (Greece) v Krasnodar (Russia) or Porto (Portugal)
Matches to be played on 20/21 and 27/28 August