Supercomputer predicts exact Celtic points total in Champions League as 'juggling' act unlocks dream £40m jackpot

A supercomputer has tipped Celtic tipped to reach the Champions League play-off round as a minimum in the revamped format.

Brendan Rodgers' side will open their campaign against Slovan Bratislava next week and the Scottish Premiership champions will have high hopes of making their mark on the competition. It will be far from easy with Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta, RB Leipzig, Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, 5.45pm Young Boys and Aston Villa all drawn to face the Hoops - but data from Opta suggest that Celtic could have one of the easier draws.

This season teams ranked in the top eight of the league stage will qualify automatically for the round of 16 as seeded teams, while teams finishing between the 9th and 24th place will enter the playoff phase. That will determine the eight teams that will take part in the round of 16 draw as unseeded teams

Opta claim that Celtic's fixtures are rated as the easiest across all 36 teams with an average opponent rating of 87.4 by their points tally - and have issued a predicted points total of 9.7. It's noted this would leave them with a healthy 57.2 per cent chance of finishing in the top 24. This drops to 7.3 per cent for the top eight but 49.0 per to land in the play-off round.

That could spell a bumper payday for Celtic as they approach the £40m mark for a potential payday. Celtic are handed £15.7m just for reaching the group phase with each win in the league phase banking £1.9m per win and £600k is handed out for a draw. Based on the supercomputer's estimates and rounding up to the 10 point mark - three wins and a draw appear attainable. That would see a £6.3m payday secured.

The performance related payment also pays out based on the final overall standings. The initial value of each