With another season done and dusted, a fifth title in a row sewn up and a new manager in place, Celtic fans are now looking ahead expectantly to the summer. The route to the group stages of the Champions League is a notorious gauntlet for the Hoops despite often being one of the biggest clubs in their section of the draw.

If you're already missing the action then take comfort in the fact that it'll all begin again in less than a month. On 20th June officials will congregate at UEFA HQ in Nyon, Switzerland, to conduct the draw for the First and Second Qualifying Rounds of next season's Champions League.

Celtic enter the process as a seeded team in the Second Qualifying Round, as they have done for the past three seasons. This round is regionalised by UEFA meaning that there will be no long distance trips to the likes of Macedonia or Israel.

With most European leagues wrapped up we know the some of the teams Celtic could face at this stage. UEFA don't release the regionalised draw information until the day of the draw but certain to be in alongside the Hoops are Irish champions Dundalk FC, Northern Irish champions Crusaders FC and Swedish champions IFK Norrkoping.

Given that Celtic went out of the competition to the Swedish champions Malmo last year, a draw against a team of a similar standard would not exactly be the ideal situation this early on in the process for Brendan Rodgers' men.

This round is due to be played on 12th/13th and 19th/20th July and will be the first competitive action of the new campaign. If Celtic exit at this stage they will be out of Europe completely with no parachute into the Europa League, however that hasn't happened to the Bhoys since season 2005/06.

Successfully completing that test will mean progression to the Third Qualifying Round and this is where things get a little trickier. While still seeded, the geography of the process expands and Celtic could be facing teams as close as Norway or Iceland to as far as Kazakhstan or Azerbaijan.

This is also where higher profile and more recognisable teams become possible opponents. Rosenborg, Partizan Belgrade, Qarabag - there are no easy games here. To prove that all you need to do is take a look at recent history.

Celtic have progressed from this stage for the past four seasons but it has always been a battle. Two of the last three ties have been settled by just a single goal, against Qarabag and Elfsborg. There was also that famous tie against Legia Warsaw in which the Bhoys went through on a rule technicality.

Due to be played on 26th/27th July and 2nd/3rd August this round represents Brendan Rodgers' first big test as Celtic manager. With friendlies against Leicester and Barcelona sandwiching the first leg, the Bhoys have some quality opposition to tune up against. Defeat at this stage would see the Scottish champions parachuting into the Europa League Playoff Round.

Progression however means that the final hurdle to reaching the group stages comes into view. The dreaded Playoff Round, drawn on 5th August and due to played on 16th/17th and 23rd/24th August. With a 50/50 record here in comparable Playoff Rounds of the past, supporters know that these games are extremely tough.

The last two seasons have ended in defeat, Malmo and Maribor both tasting Champions League glory at the expense of Celtic. The season prior to that went all the way to the final minute of the second leg, a James Forrest goal overturning an away leg defeat to make it 3-2 on aggregate against Shakhter Karagandy.

The good news is that should Celtic make it to this stage they are once again guaranteed to be seeded meaning they will avoid the likes of Olympiakos and Red Bull Salzburg. However with Legia Warsaw, FC Copenhagen and Dinamo Zagreb all potential opponents it doesn't get much easier. These are all teams that are domestic champions and who have recent European experience after all.

European football until Christmas is a guarantee at this point with the losers of the Playoff Round falling into the group stages of the Europa League, but it's the bright lights of the Champions League that the Hoops want to see.

There it is then, the gauntlet laid out in full. Often a rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, this is the path that Celtic must take if they want to test themselves against the best Europe has to offer once again.

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