Celtic and Rangers learn potential Champions League play-off round opponents | OneFootball

Celtic have been drawn against Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan or Slovakian side SK Slovan Bratislava in their Champions League play-off tie.

Elsewhere, previous winners Benfica were drawn against either Feyenoord or Fenerbahce, while FC Basel will take on Malmo or FC Copenhagen.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side reached the knockout round play-off stage of the competition last season from the 36-team league phase, where they lost 3-2 on aggregate to German giants Bayern Munich.

Slovan Bratislava are the Slovakian champions and the country’s most successful club, having secured their 30th league title last year.

The last time they met, Celtic was last season, when the Scottish side won 5-1 in the opening game of the Champions League group phase.

FC Kairat, from Almaty, are champions of the Kazakhstan Premier League. Despite their domestic success, the club have never made the group or league phase in any competition.

Rangers will take on Austrian side Salzburg or Club Brugge of Belgium in the play-off round if they get through their third qualifier against Viktoria Plzen.

Russell Martin’s side, who reached the third qualifier with a 3-1 aggregate win over Greek side Panathinaikos, take on the Czech club in the first leg at Ibrox on Tuesday night.

Club Brugge finished second in the Belgian League last season, and reached the last-16 of the Champions League before losing 6-1 on aggregate to Aston Villa.

Salzburg finished a narrow second in the Austrian Bundesliga behind Sturm Graz, having come a low 34th in the league phase table in this competition.

The play-offs are the last round of qualifying matches before the “competition proper” begins in September with the league phase, with ties taking place in the weeks of 18/19 August and 26/27 August.