First qualifying round
Draw date: 19 June
First leg: 29 June
Second leg: 6 July
No fewer than 100 teams will line up in the opening round of qualifying, which kicks off at the end of June to ensure a short break for Rangers and St Johnstone.
Both of the Ladbrokes Premiership sides will be seeded for the draw, while Aberdeen have received a bye to the second round thanks to a domino effect produced by Manchester United winning the competition last month.
Possible opponents lying in wait for Pedro Caixinha and Tommy Wright’s sides at this stage include some familiar faces.
Read more: Celtic’s Champions League qualifying minefield: Key dates and potential foes the Hoops could face
Lincoln Red Imps, who stunned Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic with a 1-0 win in Gibraltar in last season’s Champions League qualifiers before losing 3-0 at Parkhead, are among the unseeded sides.
Others include Luxembourg’s Fola Esch, who Aberdeen edged past last season, Shamrock Rovers and Cork City from the Republic of Ireland and a long trip to Armenia to face Pyunik Yerevan.
Lincoln Red Imps gave Celtic a fright in Champions League qualifying last season
Second qualifying round
Draw date: 19 June
First leg: 13 July
Second leg: 20 July
The draw for the second qualifying round, when Aberdeen enter the competition, will take place at the same time as the first round.
The Dons were originally meant to begin their campaign alongside the Gers and Saints in round one, but United’s Europa League victory last month meant they moved into the Champions League and an extra spot opened up.
This resulted in the Czech cup winners winning an automatic group stage spot, the Polish cup winners gaining access to the third qualifying round and the cup winners from Scotland and Azerbaijan moving into the second qualifying round.
The second round is made up of 66 teams and Aberdeen will be among the seeded sides – as will St Johnstone should they progress.
Read more: Celtic’s Champions League qualifying minefield: Key dates and potential foes the Hoops could face
Potentially dangerous opponents for the two Scottish sides include Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan, who knocked the Dons out in the third round two years ago, FK Sarajevo from Bosnia, Iceland’s KR Reykjavik and Sweden’s Norrkoping.
However, Rangers would be unseeded for the second qualifying round should they progress, making their job much harder.
Possible clubs the Gers could face this early in the competition include Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Astra Giurgiu, Hajduk Split and Dinamo Minsk.
Kairat Almaty knocked Aberdeen out of the Europa League third qualifying round two years ago
Third qualifying round
Draw date: 14 July
First leg: 27 July
Second leg: 3 August
The gruelling run continues with another two-legged tie at the end of July.
The third qualifying round features 58 teams, with 25 new clubs entering at this stage in addition to the 25 winners from the previous round.
By the time the competition reaches this point, no Scottish clubs would be seeded for the draw.
That makes the proposition facing them far more imposing, as European giants such as Zenit St Petersburg, AC Milan, Athletic Bilbao and Everton are among the sides who will be seeded for the third round.
Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Braga are further opponents with serious European pedigree for the Scots to avoid.
Read more: Celtic’s Champions League qualifying minefield: Key dates and potential foes the Hoops could face
A trip to face AC Milan at San Siro could await in round three
Play-off round
Draw date: 4 August
First leg: 17 August
Second leg: 24 August
We’re six games in now and the league campaign is only just underway.
The play-off round is the final hurdle standing in the way of a group stage spot, with 44 teams remaining; 29 winners from the previous round and 15 losers from the Champions League third qualifying round.
The aforementioned European heavyweights could all still be in contention, while the likes of Ajax, Dinamo Kiev, CSKA Moscow and Olympiakos could be among the sides to drop out from the Champions League.
2016/17 runners up Ajax could enter in the play-off round if they drop out of Champions League contention
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