Hell of a draw for Celtic.

Impossible. Frankly, you should get a bonus if you keep the scores in the three games in single figures. The best you will do is get a home draw vs Borussia.

Tough draw but that's what being in the elite European competition brings.

At least Manchester won't get wrecked this time

With the expected announcement tomorrow that the top 4 from the top countries will qualify automatically from next year this could be the last year a Scottish ever makes it.

Isn't that from 2018?

I think the champions route will still remain so winning the title will still see the team seeded in the last qualifier.

Spot on, regardless of what group Celtic had been in it would be a tough draw, this draw is just slightly tougher than most of the others.

Including today there are 7 days of the transfer window left so the board and Rodgers better start picking out and getting in contact with signing targets.

Toughest draw we could have got.

Fun to see Rush unable to open the balls!

Cant see him being invited again. He just couldn't get the hang of it.

Some cracking matches for Celtic fans to look forward to. Aside from the football it's also 3 quality away trips to cities with great football histories.

I expect there to be so many humpings that Television X may bid for the rights next season but regardless of the scorelines these are lucrative glamour ties for Celtic and their fans, no one can deny that.

I expect we will struggle away from home as we normally do, but at Parkhead we always have a chance.

If we finish 3rd, that will be an achievement.

We've beaten barca before so anything is possible.

Hard work has been done so let's enjoy the ride.

Looking forward to seeing Garner play, looks like what we have been needing up front although refs might love booking him. Senderos is probably still good enough for this level if he signs, but the centre of defence and a settled midfield needs sorted out.

UEFA's rigging of the 'competition' continues unabated. Not content with having 4 teams qualify for the CHAMPIONS league, it's now been confirmed that all teams from 'the big 4' will automatically qualify for the group stage.
Disgraceful decision imo, the seeding system is bad enough(and a large part of why we seem to play the same teams every time we qualify, Barca/Milan/Benfica) without limiting the smaller teams chances even further.
If the 'big 4' leagues are so much better than the rest what's the problem with qualifying?

I don't think seeding is bad. Seeding allows seeing the best sides at the later stages of the competition which is what we want.

Seeing the best sides all facing each other in round 1 would suck.

Seedings are shite, and based solely on keeping the same teams/countries on top. I hate them, rather than be upset I'd laugh my arse off to see a group with Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern Munich and Man Utd/City. You have to beat the best at some point to win it anyway, I'm not a fan of artificially creating glamour ties in the later stages.
I'm not so sure I liked the matches we've played against Barca, Bayern etc. they are usually torture and far from an enjoyable experience. It's good to get a couple of different teams like Man City and Moenchengladbach but I don't see me enjoying those games much either.
The gulf is increasing and seeding only exacerbates it.

But sides can increase there seeding position by performing well in EL/CL tournaments. Celtic are in pot 4 simply because of bad European performances year in the year out I'm recent times. That's on Celtic.

The same with a world cup. Would I want to see France, Germany, Brazil and Argentina in the same group in round 1? Of course not.

You are right the gulf is increasing and it's the Dutch, Belgium, Turkish, Scottish etc etc that are being left behind but domestic TV deals are a bigger reason for that. The Portuguese however still manage to compete a lot better than the rest.

Portugal obviously still produce better players than us but they also plunder Brazil for their up and coming talent, not an option to us.

I'm not just concerned with Celtic, it effects the whole competition, we're going to see the same 16-24 teams from England, Germany, Italy and Spain in the CL group stages every year WITHOUT fail, that's a fix imo and will make it even harder for someone outwith those leagues to win it. We'll never see another Porto-esque victory.

It's the superiority complex that gets me more than anything, "because we come from a 'Big 4' country we're too good to qualify".

How long before they are guaranteed 8/12 teams through the last 16?

Oh I agree. The new rules which see 4 places guaranteed to the top 4 leagues will now ensure those top 4 leagues remain the same which isnt health at all. They are closing the shop on everyone else when it is hard enough as it is.

I assume UEFA will now go after St Etienne as Palestinian flags were on display vs Beitar Jerusalem last night.

With the new CL are other countries losing automatic places to allow the 16 from the top 4 in or are the countries with no automatic qualifiers playing for a smaller number of places?

Regards the seeding, I agree with Tommy. An open draw would be fantastic. Yes it would mean some big sides might get knocked out early and smaller teams get through but that is the luck of the cup.

Does the leagues in Holland and Portugal have one team guaranteed in? Maybe they will lose their placing if they do.

Portugal had 2, Holland had 1.

I understand that UEFA are scared of the big FAs telling them where to go \and starting up something of their own but it does look like the smaller nations are getting bent over.

Good finish from Boyd.

Cheerio to Stefan Johansen. Superb first full season and then it went all wrong.

2 stonewall penalties not given at Rugby Park so far tonight.