Benfica’s crushing of the Light Blues sent them sailing out of Europa.
The Europa League loss by Rangers tonight may have an impact on Scottish football in general as well as Celtic football specifically.
Scotland was already just hanging on in the top 10 of the coefficient table, and now that the Light Blues have been eliminated by Benfica, there is no longer a competition on the continent. The Czech Republic has been pressing us, and although Viktoria Plzen defeated Servette in the Conference League, both Prague teams will be eliminated from the Europa League.
We maintain our position in 10th place for the time being because Plzen triumphed on penalties tonight, earning them 0.25 points for the draw following extra time. The Czechs now trail our 36.05. This puts them at 35.8 points. But Plzen would advance and take 10th place in their last eight tie if they could achieve just one draw from either of the matches.Scots may watch in the hopes of landing one of the big hitters who can defeat them in both legs, as they will find out who their opponents are in tomorrow’s draw.
Should Scotland hold onto its 10th place, we would retain the automatic qualifying spot for the Champions League the next season for the Premiership winner—Celtic and Rangers are still in the running.
If the Hoops finish 11th, they will have to face a champion from a league outside the top 10 in the qualifying round if they win the league. Rangers, though, would probably still make it because of their high club coefficient points.
Beyond that, the 2019–20 season will not be counted, and that was the best season for Scottish clubs with 9.750 points, as indicated by Scotland’s coefficient. As a result, we will undoubtedly drop out on the top 10 after the following season.
As things are, we would tumble to 16th, but next season’s success in Europe might rectify that.