We now know the dates of The 2025/26 Champions League play-off round draw. Wednesday 20 August at Celtic Park. The away fixture will take place on Tuesday 26 August with the destination still to be decided.
Celtic will take on Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) or Kairat (Kazakhstan) who are scheduled to play on Wednesday 06 August in with the return leg in Bratislava on Tuesday 12 August.
The price is massive for the winner a place in the CL League or as we used to call it the Group Stages. We all know the financial riches that come with 4 home and 4 away games that come with qualification.
Kazakhstan is a nightmare for Celtic fans to get to both for the logistics and costs. Slovakia is much more appealing for direct flights and costs.
The partnership between Celtic FC and Nirvana, the previous official travel partner, came to an end on 30th June 2025. Both Nirvana and the club have mutually agreed not to renew the partnership due to the rising costs of providing fan travel to European away games. Therefore there will be no official club travel option to any away European matches for the 2025/26 season.
Last season we got out of the league stage to push Bayern Munich all the way before a late goal on a freezing cold night ended our European adventure.
We got a taste for the new look tournament last season with away trips to Germany (twice) , Italy, Croatia and England. At home we had 5 nights at Celtic Park.
Many Celtic fans have been critical of the Summer transfer window with some suggesting the board are playing a waiting game to see if Brendan Rodgers team qualify for the League phase before opening the purse strings. If true it’s risky business but we hope to see more quality brought in sooner rather than later.
Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast
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