Celtic in the Europa League: When is the draw, potential opponents, fixture dates and prize money
Who Celtic could face in the Europa League
Celtic will play in the Europa League this season following their dismal Champions League elimination at the hands of Kairat Almaty.
It is the first time in four years that the Scottish champions will miss out on Uefa's top tier competition after enjoying automatic entry into the league phase in each of the past three seasons.
The plummeting Scottish coefficient meant that Brendan Rodgers' side would have to qualify this time around, and a tie against the lowest ranked team left in the qualifiers appeared to be a good draw for the Hoops.
However, despite being heavy favourites to progress, Celtic could only muster back-to-back goalless draws against Kairat Almaty with the return leg in Kazakhstan on Tuesday going to extra-time and penalties, where the hosts claimed a famous victory.
Celtic will now become reacquainted with the Europa League - a competition they last featured in during season 2021-22, when they finished third in their group to drop into the Conference League knock-out play-off round, where they lost to Bodo/Glimt.
Like the Champions League, the Europa League now features 36 clubs in a single league format, with each club drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots, playing a total of eight matches home and away. Each team will play against a maximum of two opponents from any other country and cannot play a team from the same association, ruling out the prospect of Celtic v Rangers derby in the league phase after the Ibrox side joined their Glasgow rivals in Uefa’s second tier competition following a shambolic 6-0 defeat to Clubb Brugge in Belgium on Wednesday to go down 9-1 on aggregate. An Old Firm clash would be possible in the knockout stages if both teams progress.
The top eight in the Europan League table advance directly to the round of 16 while sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout round play-offs, with the victors going through to the last 16. Teams finishing 25th and below will be eliminated from European competition altogether. Celtic will be drawn from pot two and could face Battle of Britain clashes against either Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest.
When is the Europa League group phase draw?
Celtic will find out their opponents for the Europa League main phase when the draw is made in Monaco on Friday, August 29, 2025 with proceedings set to begin at 12pm BST.
Celtic's possible Europa League opponents
Celtic are one of 25 teams already confirmed for the Europa League main phase, namely: Pot 1 - Roma, Porto, Feyenoord, Lille, Dinamo Zagreb, Rangers, Real Betis, Salzburg, Aston Villa; Pot 2 - Fenerbahce, Crvena Zvezda, Lyon, Viktoria Plzen, Ferencvaros; Pot 3 - Basel, Freiburg, Nottingham Forest, Sturm Graz, Nice, Bologna; Pot 4 - Celtic Vigo, Stuttgart, Go Ahead Eagles, Brann.
The rest of the teams will be known following the conclusion of the Europa League play-off round on Thursday. Those projected to make it through based on their seeding are: Pot 2 - Braga, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Young Boys; Pot 3 - Midtjylland, Ludogorets, FCSB; Pot 4 - Panathinaikos, Malmo, Utrecht, Rijeka, Genk.
Europa League fixture dates
Europa League fixtures will primarly take place on Thursday evenings, with the exception of a limited number of matchday one fixtures scheduled on Wednesday, September 24.
Matchday 1: September 24/25, 2025
Matchday 2: October 2, 2025
Matchday 3: October 23, 2025
Matchday 4: November 6, 2025
Matchday 5: November 27, 2025
Matchday 6: December 11, 2025
Matchday 7: January 22, 2026
Matchday 8: January 29, 2026
Knockout play-off round: February 19 and 26, 2026
Round of 16: March 12 and 19, 2026
Quarter-finals: April 9 and 16, 2026
Semi-finals: April 30 and May 7, 2026
Final: May 20, 2026 at Beşiktaş Stadium, Istanbul
Europa League prize money
While Celtic were expected to bank up to €25million in prize money for competing in the Champions League, the financial rewards are far less in the Europa League.
All 36 qualifying clubs will be guaranteed a fixed starting fee of €4.31 million with performance-related bonuses paid for each match in the League Phase amounting to €450k per win and €150k per draw.
The rest of the prize money is broken down as follows:
Finish in the top eight of the League Phase: €600k each
Finished between ninth and 16th: €300k each
Qualify for play-off round: €300k each
Round of 16: €1.75m per club
Quarter-finals: €2.5m per club
Semi-finals: €4.5m per club
Final: €7m per club - winners can expect to receive an additional €6m.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.