CELTIC fans are rightly excited about their team having another crack at the Champions League group stage for the second year running under Brendan Rodgers.

Undoubtedly many of them will be eyeing the glamour clubs, Real Madrid especially, when the draw is made this evening.

But I am looking at this more pragmatically. I want to see a Scottish team still in Europe after Christmas and you can look at the various pots and come up with scenarios that will help that.

Read more: Who can Celtic get in the Champions League draw this evening?

I think Celtic fans in recent years have probably seen enough of Barcelona. They beat them when Neil Lennon was manager and were thrashed last year in the Camp Nou.

I think they will want something different and I would ask the question "what is the best way for Celtic to still be in Europe come the start of 2018?"

It is not being disrespectful to Spartak Moscow or Shakhtar Donetsk, who are two very good sides and would give Celtic a real test, but landing one of them from pot one would certainly aid their cause.

I know the fans will say they don’t want to go to Russia or Ukraine and apologies to those that want the trip to Madrid, Munich or even down to London, but I think it is in Celtic’s interest to stay away from the real heavyweights in pot one.

And I say that because pot two is arguably even more difficult. There is not really a weak link there because it starts with Barcelona and ends with Manchester United in terms of the rankings.

Read more: Celtic star Olivier Ntcham: Bring on PSG and £200m man Neymar

You have got Atletico, Paris St Germain, Dortmund, Manchester City and Porto in there as well. So there will be a glamour team, in all likelihood, in pot two.

With that in mind, Celtic fans should be hoping for the team that give them the best chance of getting two results to come out of the top pot. For me, that would be Spartak or Shakhtar.

This might be a controversial view, but I think to get second it would almost take a pretty bold set of results. A number of unusual things would have to fall into place.

They should still aim for it and it is a worthy goal but it is so difficult now and I don’t think anybody should reasonably expect Celtic to finish in the top two.

Rodgers is a realist and while he will say, rightly, that Celtic want to go as far as possible, I think he, in his own mind, will see finishing third in the group as something that would be a success.

The likelihood is that Celtic are going to have three really tough nuts to crack. There will be no easy games whoever they draw.

Read more: Who can Celtic get in the Champions League draw this evening?

From pot two, you are going to get one of the major clubs regardless of who you are paired with so, for me, it is about looking at the other two pots and hoping for the best case scenario that would give you as much chance as possible of qualifying.

Someone like Olympiakos in pot three would be a good draw for Celtic. I don’t think they are the team they once were and the Greek economy has had an impact on football there.

That is one that Celtic would be looking at, and maybe Basle as well. I covered them last season in Arsenal’s group and they are a team Celtic could potentially beat.

But you want to stay away from Liverpool, Roma and probably Besiktas as well, even though they are just marginally ahead of Celtic in the rankings. That wouldn’t be easy for Celtic at all, likewise Napoli and Tottenham.

It is great fun and it is something for Celtic and the fans to look forward to. They will enjoy the adventure and that is what it is all about.

We remember well the years when Scotland didn’t have a team in the Champions League so Celtic should enjoy it. I think third place is realistically what they should be aiming for.