Celtic have been drawn against Armenian side Alashkert in their opening Champions League qualifier.

Alashkert will host the first leg against Celtic on 11 July, with the return in Glasgow a week later.

Celtic will be in search of a third successive appearance in the group stages of the Champions League, but have to compete for one of just four places available to qualifiers that are league winners.

There are now 26 teams going directly into the group stage, so they must now play four two-legged ties, although they will be seeded each time. If the Hoops lose at any stage of the qualifiers or the final play-off round, they will drop into the next Europa League round.

Celtic assistant manager Chris Davies says he expects the team to overcome Alashkert, but says it will be a “difficult trip”.

“We’ve been throughout his before as a staff and as players. The simplicity of it for us is if we play to our level, we play with our normal way and normal intensity, then we’ll beat them,” he said.

“We travel there first and we’ve got them at home second, which is a positive.

“But we won’t be underestimating them at all. There will be no complacency there whatsoever, because as we’ve seen before these teams can be tricky to play against.

“We’re excited for the challenges ahead and we’ll look forward to the games.

“You have to bear in mind there’s going to be a heat there and at times you can adapt slightly on the tactical side, how you’re approaching certain phases of the game because it’s so hot.

“We’re training in pre-season now in warmer weather and we’re going to Austria in warmer weather so that’ll help us prepare for that.”
[Quotes via Daily Record]