Champions League breakdown revealed as Rangers and Celtic see race for place at expanded top table hot up

Champions League breakdown revealed as Rangers and Celtic see race for place at expanded top table hot up

The champions of this season’s Scottish Premiership title are starting to plan their Champions League adventure.

As it stands, either Rangers or Celtic will be guaranteed admittance into European football’s multi-millionaire playground. However, as Record Sport revealed earlier this month, our two best teams might still join forces at the top table without the terrible qualification rounds for the runner-up, but only if Rangers win the Europa League this season. Without that, access to the £40 million-plus golden goose will be limited to whoever holds the league title in May, unless the team coming second can safely pass the difficult qualification process. The Light Blues achieved it two seasons previously against PSV, but the Dutch giants extracted revenge this year with a huge aggregate win.

Philippe Clement and Brendan Rodgers are battling for the Premiership title, and they now have the extra burden of a multi-million pound pay day with only 12 games remaining in the season. Rangers have taken control of the summit following another weekend of twists and turns, opening up a two-point advantage. The rivals will face each other twice more in the remaining third of the season, and they might be even more important as Europe’s biggest championship transitions to a new format.

As of now, 36 spaces are vacant for the Champions League’s 2024/25 league phase, with both this year’s winner and the Europa League winner guaranteed participation. England, Spain, Germany, and Italy each receive four berths, while France will have three. The Netherlands will be given access to two teams, whereas Portugal, Belgium, Scotland, and Austria currently have one confirmed representative. The remaining positions are made up of TWO European Performance positions (Bologna and Leipzig, according to the most recent public list), five teams from the Champions qualification path, and two from the league path.

The group stage represents the most significant change for Celtic or Rangers. The 36 clubs who advance to this stage of the competition will compete in a single league and play EIGHT matches in the new league phase. Rather than facing three different opponents at home and away, clubs now face EIGHT different teams, with half of the games played away. To determine the opponents, teams will be seeded into four pots, with each team drawn to face two opponents from each.

Teams finishing in positions one through eight advance to the round of 16, while those finishing in positions nine through twenty-four compete in a two-egged knockout play-off to secure a spot in the final 16. Finished 25th  and below means elimination with NO Europa League safety net.

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