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Celtic has won a special touch in their quest to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Neil Lennon ‘s side again stand before four perilous qualifying rounds – albeit one-legged this year – before they can claim a seat at the continent’s top table.
But their path to the level of organization has become a little less difficult through occasions in Switzerland, meaning they will qualify in the circular they play.
FC Basel played an exciting 4-4 draw with Lugano on Sunday, they can no longer claim the Swiss Super League title.
Winning the department would have allowed Basel to enter the qualifying round.
If they and Celtic had then progressed to the final play-off round, they would have ousted the Premiership champions as seeds.
That would have left Lennon’s team facing a more complicated draw.
Only St Gallen or Young Boys can now win the Swiss League, none of which threaten Celtic’s qualifying status.
But “why is it so?” we hear you ask.
The prestige of the rating is based on the coefficient points, which are calculated in an average of five years based on the European functionality of a team.
Ajax (69,500 points) and FC Salzburg (53,500 points), for example, are the most sensitive seed in the qualifying round.
That leaves two other ranked teams, and Celtic (34,000 points) would have been sent off via Basel (54,000 points) if it had qualified.
Assuming the past rounds are in the coefficient, Celtic would join through Olympiakos (43,000) as the last two most sensitive seed.
The qualifying for the 2020/21 tournament will begin on August 8, with the house draw for each circular through a draw.
However, the play-off phase will take place on two levels and is scheduled for September before the start of the organization level the following month.