Celtic could face either Malmo or MOL Vidi FC in final Champions League qualifying round
Celtic must first beat AEK Athens over two legs to reach the final round of the Champions League play-offs
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Your support makes all the difference.Celtic could play either Malmo of Sweden or MOL Vidi FC of Hungary in the final play-off round of the Champions League.
Brendan Rodgers’ side must first beat AEK Athens in their third-round qualifying game, having already seen off Rosenbory and Alashkert in Europe’s premier competition.
The winners of the last seven Scottish Premiership titles began their domestic season with a 3-1 win over Livingston on Saturday as Rodgers rotated his side ahead of Wednesday’s home tie against AEK Athens.
“There are not 11 players who are going to get us through this period, especially at the beginning of the season,” said the Celtic manager. “We’re having to manage the players when we bring them in and take one or two out, without disrupting the fluency of the team.”
Celtic are set to add Australia World Cup youngster Daniel Arzani to their squad on loan once he has completed a move to Manchester City.
“He is, I believe, finalising his deal with Manchester City and in talks with ourselves to come in, as a possibility,” Rodgers said of Arzani.
“He is another exciting young talent and we will see if we can get that organised in the next few days. He has obviously been at the World Cup so he will need to be in for a couple of weeks before he gets up to speed.”
Wednesday’s opponents AEK Athens reached the round of 32 in last season’s Europa League and lost to Dynamo Kyiv on away goals.
Malmo and Vidi present more of an unknown challenge, and the first leg of the tie will take place on 21 or 22 August, with the return games on 28 or 29 August.
Meanwhile, Rangers and Hibernian could both face trips to Russia in their quests to reach the group stages of the Europa League.
Steven Gerrard's Rangers will have to play Russian side Ufa or Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg in the play-off round should they see off Maribor in their next qualifier.
The draw for the play-offs pitted Hibs or Molde against Zenit St Petersburg or Dinamo Minsk of Belarus, while Premier League side Burnley will face Olympiakos or Lucerne if they beat Istanbul Basaksehir
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