Celtic land exclusive status in Champions League as duelling Rangers fixture status answered by UEFA

A revamped approach to the UEFA calendar will see Celtic and Rangers start their European campaigns in different weeks with the introduction of 'exclusive' game weeks.

Traditionally, the Champions League is played over a Tuesday and Wednesday, with Europa League (and later Conference League) ties then taking place on a Thursday. Butthe new format sees matchday one of the Champions League exclusively take place across three days on Tuesday, September 17, Wednesday , 18 and Thursday, September 19, allowing the competition to take centre stage.

The group phase of the Europa League will then get underway in the following week over two days on Wednesday, September 25, and Thursday, September 26 with no Champions League matches taking place. The Conference League - which features clubs such as Hearts and Chelsea this season - gets going on Thursday, October 3, but doesn't get its own exclusive week until December 19, which is the final round of fixtures in the competition's league phase.

Celtic kick off their Champions League schedule by welcoming Slovan Bratislava to Parkhead on Wednesday, September 19 while Rangers' European campaign gets underway with a trip to Swedish side Malmo on Thursday, September 26. The revamped format sees 36 teams compete in the league phase of both competitions, replacing the familiar group stage structure. Each team will play eight matches against eight different teams, four at home and away.

The teams who finish in the top eight places directly progress to the last 16 stage, with the sides placed between 9th and 24th entering a play-off round. The teams who finish between 25th and 36th are knocked out of the competition.