Celtic and Hearts both learned their European fates this week, with the two Scottish clubs set for demanding league phase campaigns on separate continental stages.
Celtic will compete in the Europa League after surrendering a four-goal lead against LASK in the Champions League play-off tie. The drop into the Europa League brought a difficult draw. Celtic will face Benfica, Marseille, Celta Vigo, Besiktas, Omonia, Union SG, and Torreense across eight matches, four at home and four away.
Hearts, meanwhile, qualified for the Conference League after losing in both Champions League and Europa League qualifying before defeating Rapid Vienna on penalties in the Conference League play-off. Their league phase schedule includes Monaco, Trabzonspor, Pafos, Borac, Nordsjaelland, and Thun.
Trabzonspor drew attention for the presence of Mo Salah, according to BBC Sport, which described the Turkish club as Salah's Trabzonspor in its coverage of the draw.
The two competitions use similar formats. In the Europa League, each of the 36 teams plays eight different opponents in the league phase. The top eight advance directly to the round of 16. Teams finishing ninth through 24th enter a two-legged play-off round, while those finishing 25th or below are eliminated and cannot drop into any other European competition.
The Conference League format runs slightly differently. All 36 teams play only six games, three at home and three away. The qualification thresholds for the next round remain the same, with the top eight advancing automatically and teams finishing ninth through 24th entering play-offs.
Celtic begin their Europa League campaign next month. Hearts start their Conference League league phase in October.
