Celtic assured of tough Europa League challenge

Celtic have been assured of a tough test in their first Champions League qualifier after Fenerbahce's title failure moved them into the unseeded pot.

Fenerbahce were pipped to the Turkish championship by unfancied Bursaspor, meaning the Istanbul club join Zenit St Petersburg, Ajax and Dinamo Kiev in the list of Celtic's possible opponents in the third qualifying round.

Steaua Bucharest will also join the seeds if they beat Unirea Urziceni to second place in the Romanian league, otherwise Portuguese side Sporting Braga will be among the five seeded teams in the non-champions part of the draw.

Celtic could face an even more difficult encounter to make the group stages if they progress from their initial tie, with Tottenham, Sevilla and Werder Bremen assured of a place among the play-off seeds.

Defeat at the first hurdle would put Celtic into the final qualifying round for the Europa League. Failure at the second hurdle, where the Parkhead club lost to Arsenal last season, would put them straight into the Europa League group stages again.

Celtic will discover their opponents for the third qualifying round on July 16 with the first leg taking place on July 27/28 and the return game the following week.

Celtic face a European encounter tomorrow when they are due to fly to Germany to face St Pauli as part of the Hamburg club's centenary celebrations.