Where Celtic, Rangers and Hearts sit in European tables - prize money, coefficient boost, chances of progress
Scotland's hopes of having three representatives in the knockout stages of European football received a major boost after a midweek of favourable results for Celtic, Rangers and Hearts.
All three clubs kept clean sheets as Celtic earned an impressive 0-0 draw away at Atalanta in the Champions League, while Rangers posted a 4-0 win over FCSB at Ibrox in the Europe League. Hearts also continued their excellent start in the Conference League with a 2-0 win over Cypriot side Omonoia at Tynecastle Park as Scottish Premiership clubs savoured a week to remember on the continent.
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Celtic’s strong position
A strong defensive performance in Italy means Celtic now sit on four points in the Champions League after three matches after an opening 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava was followed by a 7-1 hammering in Dortmund. They currently sit 20th in the 36-team table - tucked in just behind PSG on goal difference - with the top eight sides qualifying directly for the last 16 and positions nine to 24 progressing to the play-off round.
Two more wins from their remaining five fixtures would almost certainly secure a play-off place for Brendan Rodgers' side, which is certainly achievable from a schedule that will see them host RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Young Boys at Celtic Park, as well as travelling to Dinamo Zagreb before finishing their campaign away to Aston Villa.
Rangers’ repair job
Rangers meanwhile, in putting four goals past the champions of Romania without reply, have erased the damage done to their goal difference by the 4-1 home defeat to Lyon three weeks ago. The victory, combined with the 2-0 away win over Malmo on matchday one, puts them onto six points in the Europa League, where they sit 11th in the table, on a +3 goal difference, just three places outside the automatic qualification spots for the last 16.
Philippe Clement's men will likely require ten points, or possibly nine, to secure progression to the knock-out round but their next four fixtures fall into the difficult category with Olympiacos and Nice away followed by Tottenham at home and then a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United before a more winnable fixture at home to Union Saint-Gilloise to conclude the league phase.
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Hearts have put themselves in a great position to qualify for the knock-out round of the Conference League by winning their opening two fixtures against Dinamo Minsk and Omonoia to put themselves on a maximum six points alongside eight other clubs.
The Conference League differs slightly from the Champions and Europa League in that there are only six league matches, meaning the Jambos are already a third of the way through their campaign. Neil Critchley's side currently sit sixth in the 36-team table, behind leaders Chelsea on goal difference with the English Premier League side on +5 and Hearts on +3.


It is likely that seven points will be required for Hearts to progress to the knock-out round as one of the top 24 sides, but six points may even be enough depending on results and goal difference.
Hearts’ next three fixtures are tough with Bundesliga side Heidenheim visiting Tynecastle before trips to Belgium and Denmark to face Cercle Brugge and Copenhagen respectively. If Hearts avoid defeat in any of those matches, they could have a shot at finishing in the top eight and direct advancement to the last 16, but even if they lose all three, they conclude the league phase at home to their weakest opponents on paper, Moldovan side Petrocub, where a win or draw would likely take them into the play-offs in February.
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Hide AdThe cash cow
In terms of prize money, all three clubs boosted their coffers this week with Celtic banking the most for their draw in Bergamo to the tune of €700,000, taking their earnings to almost €35million before ticket sales. Rangers earned €450,000 for their win to add to their €12million European bounty while Hearts added €400,000 to the €5.5million prize money for the season before ticket sales.
The coefficient
Scotland's all-important UEFA coefficient also received a welcome shot in the arm. Celtic added 0.2 points, while Rangers and Hearts each contributed 0.4 points to take Scotland's season tally so far up from 3.4 points to 4.4 points in the space of a single week. It means Scotland have now overtaken Israel to sit 16th in the coefficient rankings, 1.3 points behind Austria in 12th in the battle to win back automatic Champions League entry for domestic title winners for the 2026/27 campaign.
All in all, a fantastic week for Scottish clubs in Europe.
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