Celtic secure €400,000 for UWCL group stage qualification | OneFootball

Celtic 2-0 FK Vorskla Poltava (3-0 on aggregate)…

Arsenal beat BK Hacken this evening 4-0 to qualify 4-1 on aggregate. Juventus won 2-1 away to PSG to add to their 3-1 home win, so go through 5-2 on aggregate.

Real Madrid came back from being a goal down to Sporting CP to win 3-1 and qualify 5-2 on aggregate. Manchester City cruised past Paris FC 3-0 tonight and 5-0 on aggregate.

Roma went into the away match at Servette Chenois with a 3-1 lead. The Italians wanted more and recorded a remarkable 7-2 away win to go through 10-3 on aggregate…

Meanwhile over at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium Celtic secured a hard-fought 2-0 home win over FK Vorskla Poltava this evening, making it a 3-0 win for the Scottish Champions to take their place in the UEFA Women’s Champions League via the qualifiers.

The other sides already through are Champions of the big league so they avoided the qualifiers. So there’s going to be no easy games for the Hoops who tonight made history for Scottish football. Have a look below…

These are the four pots for tomorrow’s draw…

Pot 1: Barcelona (ESP, holders), Lyon (FRA), Bayern München (GER), Chelsea (ENG)

Pot 2: Wolfsburg (GER), Arsenal (ENG), Real Madrid (ESP), Manchester City (ENG)

Pot 3: Juventus (ITA), St. Pölten (AUT), Roma (ITA), Twente (NED)

Pot 4: Vålerenga (NOR), Celtic (SCO), Hammarby (SWE), Galatasaray (TUR)

What a remarkable job Elena Sadiku has done at Celtic, utilising her squad from top to bottom to get the maximum output. Those who doubted her team selections will be all be onside and fully aboard the Sadiku bandwagon.

After a bright start in the opening minutes Celtic seemed to retreat into a shell to protect their first leg 1-0 advantage. The Ukrainian Champions pressed Celtic high and were fierce in their tackling, Daugherty wasn’t really tested in the Celtic goal but the play was invariably coming towards her and it made for an uncomfortable first 45 minutes for the Celtic supprort.

Elena Sadiku demanded more from her team in the second half and the players certainly delivered. It was a much better showing with Emma Lawton absolutely outstanding and a worthy Player of the Match. Two weeks ago Lawton was a Partick Thistle player and she probably would have been on the bench this evening, coming in as a replacement for Hana Kerner who sprained her wrist at the weekend. Lawton’s powerful and determined forays down the right wing were causing mayhem.

And when Lucy Ashworth Cifford, five minutes after the break, found some room on the left wing her perfect cross was met by Lawton who headed into the corner to effectively win the tie for the Scottish Champions.

Shannon McGregor, a summer signing from Hibs, headed a second to put the outcome beyond the Ukranians and propel Celtic into the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

The Celtic celebrations after the final whistle were a thing to behold, almost a mini-version of the Celtic post match celebrations at Hampden back in May after the Scottish Cup final over theRangers.

Michael Nicholson, Celtic’s CEO and Chris McKay, the club’s Chief Financial officer, were both in the crowd and will now be able to look at the Celtic FC Women’s side adding yet more money to the club’s coffers.

Celtic this evening secured €400,000 as a base allocation for each group-stage team.

Teams will earn €50,000 per win in the group stage, and €17,000 per draw.

There’s a €20,000 bonus for winning their group and €160,000 for qualification for the quarter-finals, plus €180,000 for qualification for the semi-finals. The teams making it to the final receive €200,000 for the runner-up and €350,000 for the winning team.

Shannon McGregor of Celtic celebrates scoring her team’s second goal with teammates during the UEFA Women’s Champions League 2024/25 Second Round Second Leg match between Celtic and Vorskla Poltava at Albert Bartlett Stadium on September 26, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

This is going to be a huge learning curve for the team but it’s a brilliant opportunity for Celtic to take a place among the elite teams in world club football.

Congratulations to Elena Sadiku, her players and all her staff. What a brilliant achievement from Celtic FC Women.

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