After three years of guaranteed qualification through the league, Celtic are back in the Champions League qualifiers.
Brendan Rodgers’ side must navigate a qualification play-off if they are to return to the league phase of the competition, which saw them qualify for the knockout stages last time around.
With the head coach in the last year of his contract and in discussions with the Celtic board, it could be the Irishman’s final crack at bringing European success to Celtic Park.
It all rests on winning in this tie, though – so who are the two teams that the Scottish champions could face, what challenges will they bring, and how do they differ?
Who are Slovan Bratislava? Meet Celtic’s familiar Champions League
Celtic faced Slovan Bratislava in their opening Champions League match last year, winning 5-1 with an exceptional performance which saw five different goalscorers.
This was the Hoops’ biggest ever winning margin in the competition proper, and would help set the scene for an ultimately impressive European campaign.
Slovan would go on to finish second-bottom of the 36-team table, one of two sides to fail to win a single point across the eight matches. This perhaps means that in hindsight, a routine victory was to be expected on that night.
Since then, not much has changed at Bratislava. Barring the now-retired Juraj Kucka, every member of the starting eleven which lost 5-1 that night remains at the club.
They remain managed by Vladimir Weiss, whose son of the same name is well-remembered for his spell at Rangers, and continues to play under his father at the age of 35.
Slovan won the Slovakian title with an 18-point margin this year, and go into their third-round tie against Kairat as favourites. For Celtic, they would represent a familiar opponent, which made it through this qualifying process last year.
Who are Kairat Almaty? Everything on Kazakhstan’s surprise Champions League package
Kairat Almaty have never qualified for the Champions League before – this is their first appearance in the qualifiers since their last title win in 2020.
No one expected them to make it this far. Slovenian champions Olimpija Ljubljana were stunned in the first round, which saw Kairat win 3-1 on aggregate.
Rodgers and Celtic are no strangers to Kazakh opponents, however. The Hoops faced FC Astana in back-to-back seasons during the Irishman’s first spell, coming out victorious in two highly eventful ties.
Fans will also remember Shakhter Karagandy, who stunned the Celts 2-0 in the first leg of the 2013 play-off, only for Neil Lennon’s men to come back with a dramatic 3-0 win at Celtic Park.
This was exactly what Kairat achieved in this year’s second round, where they knocked out KuPS of Finland in dramatic fashion. 16-year-old Dastan Satpayev, heavily linked with Chelsea, scored in that tie and will be seen as the side’s main threat.
Celtic will be favourites regardless of who they face, but in Slovan seeking revenge and the long trip to face Kairat, they face two different – but very real – challenges. Fixture dates and times are still to be confirmed.