Celtic discovered which eight teams they will face in the new Champions League format last week and the draw produced a number of mouth-watering match-ups with away trips to Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund among the standout ties.
Brendan Rodgers’ side will play four games at home and four away against different opponents over the next few months after UEFA ditched the old group stage system for a 36-team league table instead.
The Hoops will automatically qualify for the knockout rounds if they can finish in the top eight, while 16 other clubs will compete in the play-offs. Teams who finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from the tournament and will NOT drop into the Europa League.
With Villa (A), Dortmund (A), RB Leipzig (H), Atalanta (A), Club Brugge (H), Young Boys (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A) and Slovan Bratislava (H) set to providen stern opposition, Celtic will hope they can take a giant stride forward in Europe’s elite competition this term.
Opta analysts have released their difficulty rankings for the Champions League fixtures and GlasgowWorld takes a look at where Celtic rank as having the 'hardest' set of opponents.
1. Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Opponent average rating: 92.4 | AFP via Getty Images
2. Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)
Opponent average rating: 91.9 | AFP via Getty Images
3. Liverpool (England)
Opponent average rating: 91.9 | Getty Images
4. Feyenoord (Holland)
Opponent average rating: 91.6 | ANP/AFP via Getty Images