Celtic and Rangers prize money for reaching European knockout stages and impact on Scottish coefficient
Millions banked but coefficient remains on cliff-edge
Scotland will have two representatives in the knockout stages of European football this season after both Celtic and Rangers advanced in their respective competitions.
Celtic made it through to the Champions League play-off round where they will face Bayern Munich after finishing 21st in the table with 11 points from their eight matches.
Rangers secured direct qualification for the Europa League last 16 where they will face one of Anderlecht, Bodo/Glimt, Fenerbahce or FC Twente after finishing eighth in the standings on 14 points from eight fixtures.
Progress is worth millions to both clubs, although Celtic are set to bank considerably more money than their Glasgow rivals due to the vastly superior prize money on offer in the Champions League.
Celtic's earnings to date in the competition stand at €46.16million made up of an €18.62m starting fee, €13.44m in coefficient payments, €8.40m performance bonuses and €5.70m for their final league placing. These figures do not include ticket sales.
Rangers so far have banked €18.45m for reaching the Europa League last 16, made up of a €4.31m starting fee, €7.28m in coefficient payments, €2.10m performance bonuses and €3.01m for their final league placing.
Those figures represent a €27.71m difference between what Celtic and Rangers have earned in Europe so far this season. Celtic will also bank an additional €12.5m if they defeat Bayern and reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
Having two sides involved in the latter stages of both competitions for only the third time in 15 years is also helpful in terms of the Scottish coefficient, the metric used to determine the Uefa rankings. Scotland have dropped out of the top 10 this season, meaning they have lost the automatic Champions League place that Celtic have benefited from in recent years. This season's Scottish Premiership title winners will need to negotiate a play-off round to reach the competition proper.
Celtic added 0.2 points to the overall Scottish coefficient total for their 21st place finish in the Champions League while Rangers added a cumulative 1.45 points for their win over Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday (0.4 for the victory, 0.2 for reaching the last 16, and 0.85 for finishing eighth in the table).
Scotland's coefficient points total for the season currently stands at 8.25, with Celtic contributing 3.2, Rangers 3.15, Hearts 1.0, Kilmarnock 0.5 and St Mirren 0.4.
This leaves Scotland currently sitting 14th in the Uefa standings, 0.8 points behind Austria in 13th, but more importantly, 1.762 points behind Norway in 12th, which is the position Scotland would need to achieve to retain the guaranteed Conference League place in the 2026/27 season for the Scottish Cup winners or third placed Premiership side, which Hearts and Aberdeen have both benefited from in recent years.
Norway also have two representatives remaining in Europe with Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League play-off round, where they face FC Twente, while Molde have a Conference League knockout play-off tie against Shamrock Rovers.
It would benefit Scotland greatly if both Norwegian sides lost their ties, however, Celtic and Rangers would still need to go deep into their respective competitions to claw back the points deficit.
Each Celtic or Rangers victory from here on in is worth 0.4 points to the Scottish total, while each draw earns 0.2 points. Celtic will get an additional 0.3 bonus points for each round they progress in the Champions League while Rangers will add 0.2 bonus points for each round they negotiate in the Europa League.
Norwegian clubs earn slightly more due to having one less representative in Europe this season, so Bodo Glimt will collect 0.5 points per win, 0.25 points per draw and 0.25 bonus points for each round progression, while Molde will the same for each victory and draw and 0.125 for each round they reach in the Conference League.
Austria's sole remaining representative, Rapid Vienna, are in the Conference League last 16 and they will add 0.4 points per win, 0.2 points per draw and 0.1 bonus points for each round they reach.
Scotland also have to be wary of being overtaken by Denmark in the coefficient rankings. The Danes are 15th, 1.194 points behind, and have two remaining representatives in Europe with Midtjylland facing a Europa League play-off against Real Sociedad while Copenhagen are up against Hoffenheim in the Conference League play-offs.
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