With the Scottish Premiership into the final week, the key European positions are close to becoming finalised. Hearts and Celtic are both guaranteed to enter Champions League qualifiers, while Rangers are guaranteed to finish third and will enter either in Europa League or Conference League qualifiers - depending on the result of the Scottish Cup final.
When we could end up with as many as four clubs in the Conference League phase at the same time, there are lots of interesting permutations to consider. This article contains all the information you could possibly want for each team, including all of their potential routes through qualifiers, the prize money on offer, the potential opponents lying in wait and the key dates this summer.
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The article is broken down by club, with four sections for each: entry point, route through qualifiers, potential opponents and prize money
Each club has a summary graphic, before explaining in more detail. The article concludes with a reminder of how bleak the entry points will be next summer, and what is required to ‘fix’ this.
HEARTS
ENTRY POINT
By securing a top two finish, Hearts will return to Champions League qualifiers for the first time since the 2006/07 season, when they finished second ahead of Rangers in 2005/06. Back then, Hearts defeated Široki Brijeg of Bosnia thanks to a thumping 3-0 home win at Murrayfield in front of 28,000 fans, before a 5-1 aggregate hammering at the hands of AEK Athens. Their European campaign was then ended that year at the hands of Sparta Prague in the first round of the UEFA Cup.
UEFA typically doesn’t allow Champions League branding in the stadium nor the official anthem to be played in any of the rounds prior to the final playoff round, so we are only guaranteed to see and hear this at Tynecastle if the Jambos win the league. As Champions, they would enter in the Champions League playoff round, and if they win that tie they reach the UCL phase. If they lose, they drop directly into the Europa League phase (no qualifiers needed.)
If Hearts are runners-up, then they’ll have to do as Rangers did last season and win two qualifying ties to reach the playoff round, if we’re going to see the big baw being bounced about on the centre circle at Tynecastle while the anthem blasts through the tannoy.
The Champions League anthem was written in 1992, based on “Zadok the Priest” which was the anthem written for the coronation of George II in 1727. Its lyrics feature UEFA’s three official languages; English, French and German.
“Ils sont les meilleurs
Sie sind die Besten
These are the champions
Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions”
No Scottish team outside Rangers and Celtic has ever reached a league phase/group stage of European competition by winning three qualifying ties, and so it will be a huge ask for Hearts to reach the Champions League if they are the Scottish runners-up. However, such are the nuances of UEFA’s competitions, Hearts might still be able to enjoy their best European campaign since 1989 by only winning one tie - regardless of their Premiership finish.
All minimum earnings graphics include the relevant payments for progressing through qualifiers for the Scottish teams.
These qualifying payments are not included for the other 35 clubs, therefore the Scottish club may seem higher up the prize money rankings than you’d expect. For example Hibs/Motherwell would be the 31st highest paid side in the Conference League as it stands. I’ve added in qualifying money for them only, which moves them up to 24th.
HEARTS’ ROUTE THROUGH QUALIFIERS
If Hearts finish 1st, it’s simple: win one tie = Champions League phase. Lose the tie and it’s Europa League phase.
However if Hearts finish 2nd, it’s more complicated. There are four final outcomes - including total European elimination - and several routes through each of the competitions.
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