Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic masterplan for Champions League glory faces early hurdle as nightmare group awaits

Celtic boss-in-waiting Brendan Rodgers his eyes on some big European nights as he prepares to seal a return to the Scottish champions.

After Ange Postecoglou left the Parkhead hot seat for Tottenham, a dramatic return for Rodgers seemed almost impossible given the bad blood created by the Northern Irishman's mid-season departure for Leicester City in 2019. But the position of supporters appears to have softened in recent days as he closes in on the job with a vision to make his mark on the Champions League group stage.

After lifting the Scottish Premiership title last season, Callum McGregor will lead the side out in Europe's elite competition once again next season and Rodgers is looking to improve on his continental record at Celtic - having struggled to make his mark on the Champions League or Europa League despite conquering Scotland. The discussions with principal shareholder Dermot Desmond and the board have centred on driving the club to to the next level and securing funding to propel the Hoops forward.

However, it may not just come down to spending power for Celtic with a tough route to the last 16 of the competition on the horizon when the draw is made. As it stands, the Scottish champions are waiting for their final pot to be decided alongside Newcastle United and Real Sociedad.

The final standings will be revealed when the victors emerge from the qualifying rounds but as it stands the club are likely to go into pot 4. For the Hoops to move up from Pot 4, five of the six qualifiers would have to have a lower coefficient than the Scottish Treble winners.

As it stands, only three of the 26 teams already in the groups will be ranked below Celtic in the draw - Union Berlin, Lens and La Liga side Sociedad. If