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The coefficient and Celtic's Champions League qualification
European football is officially over for Scottish teams this season after Rangers' exit to Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League on Thursday.
Time then to take a look at how things have transpired for Scottish teams across 2024/25 and what is ahead for Celtic, specifically, with qualifiers approaching in August.
As a collective, Scotland achieved an average of 9.250 coefficient points for the entire campaign. This is the highest average since the 2019/20 season, but it's still not quite getting the job done in a wider context.
A chunky block of 16 countries have had a better return from their clubs this term. With more matches and arguably better opportunities for smaller clubs than ever, more points are being accrued across the board, and Scotland isn't quite keeping pace.
St Mirren bested Icelandic outfit Valur before being knocked out of Conference League qualifying by Brann, earning 2.000 points. In Europa League qualifying, Kilmarnock made it past Cercle Brugge before going out to Tromso, contributing 2.500 points.
Hearts went into the Conference League groups and picked up 5.000 points along the way, while Rangers earned 19.250 for their run to the Europa League quarter-finals, with a top-eight finish in the League Phase.
Celtic picked up 16.000 points in total, which is the best performance from the Bhoys since 2012/13 - the year Neil Lennon's team bested Barcelona and made it into the last 16 of the Champions League before being knocked out by Juventus.
Scotland is listed 14th across a five-year period, which means there is no prospect of next season's Scottish Premiership champions automatically qualifying for the League Phase of the Champions League in 2026/27.
Like this summer, there'll be a Play-Off Round to navigate to reach that stage the season after next. What does that Play-Off round actually look like for Celtic this August, specifically?
The Bhoys will join nine other teams in the Champions route of the process, five of which will be seeded. Thankfully, Celtic go straight into the Play-Off draw, rather than facing earlier qualification rounds.
Currently, it's nebulous how everything will unfold, but there's a healthy chance that Brendan Rodgers' side will bag one of those seeded spots, which would be a significant bonus.
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Olympiacos - the club with the best individual coefficient of all league champions in qualifying - will now not be involved in the Play-Off process and will instead go straight into the League Phase. That's owing to the fact that the potential winners of the entire tournament this season will also qualify through their domestic league position, meaning there's a spare place for a team scheduled for summer qualifying. It's the Greeks ranked highest, and that bumps Celtic up a spot when it comes to seeding.
If you look at who leads or has won their nation's league this term, and is fancied to be in the Play-Off draw by coming through earlier qualification rounds, Celtic sit fifth, taking that last seeding spot.
Threats from Shakhtar Donetsk, RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb to potentially leave Celtic unseeded are falling apart with just a few weeks left of their domestic seasons. Those are still teams to watch ahead of the summer, with nothing yet confirmed.
For demonstrative purposes, teams such as Qarabag, Galatasaray, Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague were all unseeded at the same stage this season, giving you an idea of the quality Celtic could face even if they are seeded.
It won't be an easy tie, but one that the Bhoys should be capable of navigating if recruitment is strong and the club performs to its potential.
They will arguably be the most important games Celtic play this calendar year. European football should be pitched as the main event for Celtic over the next decade, not seen as a bonus. It's crucial the club are prepared for the challenge and move on from the era of automatic qualification, which won't return for another few years at least.
Celtic's draw takes place on August 4th. The two-legged ties will be played on August 19th/20th and August 26th/27th.
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