Celtic’s five possible Champions League opponentsCeltic will be seeded in Friday’s fourth round draw for the Champions League as they attempt to reach the group stage for the first time in four years.
Second half goals from Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras saw off HJK Helsinki tonight to go through on a 4-1 aggregate but Victor Wanyama will miss the next match after picking up two yellow cards against the Finns.
CFR Cluj are the highest ranked side that Celtic could be drawn against with the Roumanian champions winning home and away against Czech side Liberec to make it to the final qualifying round.
Swedish side Helsinborgs are another option and look to be in form after beating Slask Wroclaw 6-1 on aggregate including an impressive 3-0 win in Poland. Domestically Helsinborgs haven’t been so strong and are sitting in sixth place after 17 matches.
Maribor of Slovenia wouldn’t be overawed returning to Glasgow after dumping Rangers out of the Europa League last season but are relatively untested this season after enjoying a comfortable 5-1 aggregate win over F91 Dudelange from Luxemburg.
Israeli side Hapoel Kiryat Ahmona deserve respect after putting Zilina out in the second round then seeing off Neftci PFK of Azerbijan 6-2 on aggregate after winning the first leg 4-0 at home.
Cypriot side AEL Limassol will be looking to emulate APOEL who reached the last eight of the competition before losing out to Real Madrid. AEL beat Partizan Belgrade home and away to reach the fourth round having lost both of their previous European Cup ties back in 1968.
The draw for the fourth round will be made on Friday in Nyon starting at 11am Celtic Park time.
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