Celtic’s lead up to next season’s Champions League qualifying path may have become significantly trickier. The Scottish champions are no longer expected to be seeded into the play-off round, despite initial projections suggesting as such. Unlike the past three seasons for Celtic, automatic entry to the Champions League is no longer on the cards. Now, new data has revealed five clubs are currently ahead of the Hoops in the UEFA coefficient standings as well, meaning they will be unseeded in the play-offs. It was confirmed last year that the 2024/25 Scottish Premiership champions would not automatically qualify for the 2025/26 Champions League opening league stage. This is because Scotland dropped out of the top 10 UEFA coefficient rankings after being leapfrogged by the Czech Republic. Celtic only need to get through one qualification round to reach the league stage but they are up against a tougher run. According to the reliable Football Rankings, the Hoops will be in the unseeded list of teams for the play-off match in August. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Bodo/Glimt (Norway), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Crvena Zvezda (Serbia) and Ferencvaros (Hungary) are on Celtic’s list of opponents. The play-offs will take place on 19/20th and 26/27th August this year. Celtic scraped their way into the top 24 at the end of the newly introduced Champions League opening stage this season. In the new format, the top eight teams automatically reached the next round of the tournament, while those who finished from ninth to 24th entered the play-off stage to fight for their place in the final 16. Celtic entered the play-offs with the likes of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, in a surprising league stage. The Hoops picked up 12 points from three wins, three draws and two defeats. They started strong, with a 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava but things quickly switched when Celtic were dealt a 7-1 hammering by Borussia Dortmund. After that, Celtic saw out draws against Atalanta, Club Brugge and Dinamo Zagreb. The Hoops also notched a convincing 3-1 win over RB Leipzig and a 1-0 victory over Young Boys to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Their final match of the league stage ended in a 4-2 defeat to Premier League side Aston Villa. Celtic were then drawn against German powerhouses Bayern Munich to battle it out for their place in the last 16. Unfortunately for Brendan Rodgers’ side, it wasn’t to be as the Bavarians progressed with a 3-2 aggregate win.