Barcelona test for Celtic's under-19 players

Organised following a successful pilot project during last season - one of the matches saw the young Celtic side beat Liverpool Under-19s 3-0 at Celtic Park - the tournament will see the top youth teams in Europe face one another in four groups of four, before progressing on to a knock-out stage in January, hosted in the Middle East, which will be shown live on TV.

Tommy McIntyre and Stevie Frail's side - who won a league and cup double in the season just finished - have been drawn against Barcelona, Manchester City and Marseille. Supporters will be able to attend the matches, which could be held at Celtic Park - dependent on the first-team's fixtures.

"It's fantastic and something we have been part of from the very beginning," said Celtic head of youth Chris McCart. "It's a really difficult group and we are going to have six excellent games of the very highest standard.

"Our purpose is to try to develop a Champions League player and it will expose them to that and replicate what that's like at first-team level. It's exciting but it's going to be a strong and difficult challenge when you look at the investments of Barcelona and Man City, who spends tens of millions on their academies.

"But we are confident the players will gain experience which will be vital to them in terms of the style of play and the travelling.

"We can also offer players the opportunity of playing against the likes of Barcelona and Man City on the big stage and in stadia, so it's excellent from our recruitment point of view, too. We have signed up to it for the next three years and we are really excited about it."