Celtic kick off their UEFA Champions League journey this evening (Wednesday, September 18) against SK Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park, in what is the first of the club's eight games in the new-look competition. 

This year, European club football's flagship tournament has been re-formatted, replacing the traditional four-team group stages with a league phase that sees Celtic play eight games against eight different teams – four of those at Celtic Park, and four away from home. 

Read on for our rundown of Celtic Champions League teams, dates & all you need to know about this year's new-look competition. 

Celtic Champions League fixtures – who do Celtic play in the Champions League? 


Celtic will play four games at home and four games away in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League. Here is a full list of all the Celtic Champions League opponents and fixtures, including stadium details and kick-off times:

Celtic v Slovan Bratislava  

Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Kick-off time: 8pm
Stadium: Celtic Park

Read more: 


Ahead of the match, Brendan Rodgers addressed the media. Read the manager's words in full here, and watch his pre-match press conference below. 

Borussia Dortmund v Celtic

Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Kick-off time: 8pm 
Stadium: Signal Iduna Park 

Atalanta v Celtic

Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Kick-off time: 5.45pm
Stadium: Gewiss Stadium

Celtic v RB Leipzig 

Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Kick-off time: 8pm
Stadium: Celtic Park

Celtic v Club Brugge 

Date: Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Kick-off time: 8pm
Stadium: Celtic Park

Dinamo Zagreb v Celtic 

Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Kick-off time: 5.45pm
Stadium: Stadion Maksimir

Celtic v Young Boys 

Date: Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Kick-off time: 8pm
Stadium: Celtic Park

Aston Villa v Celtic

Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Kick-off time: 8pm
Stadium: Villa Park

Champions League new format – how does it work and what is the new league phase?


This year's UEFA Champions League has a new format, marking the first time the competition structure has been changed since the European Cup changed to the UCL in 1992. 

Gone are the familiar group stages and in its place is a 36-team league phase, wherein each team plays eight different matches against eight different opponents.  

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged knock-out phase play-off to secure their place in the competition's knockout round. 

Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated, with no access to the UEFA Europa League as was the case in previous years.

Here's a deeper dive into the new rules and tournament format - including the route to the final and expected prize money for each stage.

 Celtic Champions League standings 

UEFA Champions League matches are set to commence on the evening of Tuesday, September 17, 2024. 

Celtic's first match is against Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, September 18 with an 8pm kick-off. We'll  update this section after every match. 

Celtic Champions League squad 

In early September, Brendan Rodgers named his 25-man squad for this season's UEFA Champions League. Here it is in full:

Goalkeepers 

Kasper Schmeichel
Viljami Sinisalo
Scott Bain

Defenders 

Alistair Johnston
Greg Taylor
Liam Scales
Auston Trusty
Alex Valle
Maik Nawrocki
Cameron Carter-Vickers
Anthony Ralston
Stephen Welsh 

Midfielders

Reo Hatate
Luis Palma
Nicolas Kuhn
Yang Hyun-jun
Luke McCowan
Arne Engels
Paulo Bernardo
Callum McGregor
James Forrest
Adam Montgomery

Forwards

Kyogo Furuhashi
Adam Idah
Daizen Maeda

Celtic Champions League tickets 

Celtic Champions League ticket information, including single games and packages, can be found on the official Celtic website.