Celtic aim to prosper from UEFA reprieve
The bizarre events that led to Legia Warsaw’s elimination from the Champions League have left Celtic eyeing a possible £20million windfall.
The Scottish champions were comprehensively outplayed over two legs against the Polish side, slumping to a 6-1 aggregate loss. Legia fielded an ineligible player in Bartosz Bereszynski for the closing minutes of the second leg. Under UEFA rules, Celtic were awarded a 3-0 second leg victory in place of the 2-0 defeat, thus winning on the away goals rule.
Legia’s appeal to UEFA was dismissed and they have since issued a last ditch appeal to the Court of Arbitration. The revised draw has placed Celtic against Maribor with the first leg in Slovenia while Legia must now play Aktobe in Kazakhstan in the Europa League. There is a huge gulf between the top tier of European competition and the second, not only in status but also in terms of revenue.
The play-offs will decide whether Celtic enter the lucrative group stages of the competition. In 2012/13, Celtic famously beat Barcelona and progressed to the last sixteen knockout phase, earning a cool 24 million Euros in the process. This accounted for over one third of the club’s overall revenue that season.
Legia Warsaw are using every available avenue in an attempt to get the decision reversed including a direct appeal to Celtic FC for a one-off play-off. Understandably, this request fell upon deaf ears although Celtic do have sympathy with Legia.
Legia had failed to register Bereszynski in their squad list for the second qualifying round against St Patrick’s, meaning that a three-match suspension had not been served when he came on as a substitute at Murrayfield.
Celtic boss Ronny Deila is being cautious not to underestimate Maribor in the play-off. A good result this week will set up the hoops for a welcome return to Celtic Park after the Murrayfield tie lacked atmosphere. The temporary move was enforced after the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Last season Celtic were eliminated at the group stage having drawn AC Milan, Barcelona and Ajax.
The pick of the other play-off matches is Arsenal’s visit to Besiktas. The Gunners scrambled a late winner against Crystal Palace in their opening Premier League fixture on Saturday to keep the momentum going at the Emirates. Arsenal went nine years without winning a trophy before finally winning the FA Cup last season and gained further silverware when defeating Manchester City in the Community Shield. The two sides have never met before in European competition.
