Celtic have been handed a boost in their quest for qualification to the UEFA Champions League.
Neil Lennon's side will be seeded all the way through to the Champions League playoffs should they make it to through the rounds of qualifying.
While a seeded place always looked likely, it has now been confirmed after Basel fell away in the Swiss title race.
Basel drew 4-4 with Lugano while lead leaders Young Boys stretched the gap over Basel to 10 points with just two games remaining. This ruled out any prospect of Basel pipping Celtic to a seeded spot in qualification.
READ MORE: The opponents Celtic could face in the 1st Qualifying round for the Champions League
While one-legged matches will take place in the earlier rounds as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, final play-off round will be played over two home and away legs as usual and Celtic are now guaranteed to be seeded if they make it through the early rounds.
FT | FCB 4-4 @FCLugano1908
— FC Basel 1893 🇬🇧 (@FC_Basel_en) July 26, 2020
The points are shared. The deserved result in the end. #FCBasel1893 #zämmestark #FCBLUG pic.twitter.com/6xOEhwJIyP
Neil Lennon’s side will need to face four treacherous qualifying rounds with the first three ties being one-off contests due to the revised calendar following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The draw for the first qualifying round will take place on 9th August with the match to be held later that month.
If Celtic are successful in their first-round match, the likes of Slovan Bratislava, Dundalk, FK Sarajevo and Dinamo Tbilisi could lie ahead in qualifying round 2. Red Star Belgrade, Qarabag and Legia Warsaw could also be unseeded in qualifying round 3.
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