Celtic's potential Champions League opponents whittled down as draw pots take shape

There’s only three days until the draw for the group stage of the Champions League and Celtic’s potential opponents have been whittled down.

Ange Postecoglou will make his bow in the competition after leading the Hoops to last season’s Scottish Premiership title. With it came automatic qualification for the group stage after years of falling at the qualifying hurdles. There’s also the small matter of £40million worth of prize money that will pour into the Parkhead coffers.

The champions already had a rough idea of who they could be drawn against in Nyon this Friday. Giants such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are all top seeds, alongside mega rich Paris-SG, Ajax, Porto, AC Milan and Rangers’ Europa League final foes, Eintracht Frankfurt. They'd likely be the team that Celtic want to draw from Pot 1, but famous last words and all that after their exploits in Seville.

It doesn't get any easier in Pot 2. Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Spurs are just some of the big names included in the second tier of the draw. When you consider who they can also end up in a section with, then there could well be more than one dreaded group of death. Juventus and RB Leipzig are the others that could come out of the hat second.

Realistically, third is what Celtic will be aiming for to keep their Euro adventure alive beyond Christmas, unless a favourable draw opens up the possibility of the knock-out stages. Finish outside the top two, and it's into the Europa League.

But there are some well respected names in Pot 3 as well. Their rivals proved last season that Borussia Dortmund can be beaten, but Inter Milan, Sevilla and Napoli are certainly no mugs.

The results of Tuesday and Wednesday night’s