Are Celtic About To Return To The Champions League?

By Simon Gallagher / August 7, 2014

They say lightning never strikes twice, but whoever they are have clearly never followed Celtic. Just three years after Celtic were returned to the Champions League despite being beaten 3-1 by Swiss side Sion, who were subsequently kicked out for fielding ineligible players, the same might be about to happen. The issue this time is not quite as dramatic as the five ineligible players Sion fielded, but last night's opponents Legia Warsaw, who drubbed the Scottish champions 6-1 overall, are also possibly guilty of fielding a player who shouldn't have been in the squad. Legia brought on Bartosz Bereszynski for the final two minutes of the Polish champions' win at Murrayfield, but Uefa are looking into whether he should have been suspended. The Poles released the following statement:

"Uefa has opened an investigation on the participation by Bartosz Bereszynski," read a Legia statement. The club is preparing relevant information and explanations, which will be sent to Uefa today. "The outcome of this case will be informed immediately after its completion."

Bereszynski's alleged suspension would have carried across from Legia's final game in the Europa League last season against Apollon Limassol in which he was sent off and received a three-match ban. Celtic fans will no doubt be excited at the prospect of another last minute reprieve, but nothing is yet set in stone, and they would do well to remember a similar case in 2010 when Uefa only fined Debrecen £15,000 for the same crime, but refused to kick them out. That was based on a technicality - first that Debrecen had fielded their player, Peter Mate, in good faith, and then also that he only came on for the final three minutes when the game was already 4-1 on aggregate. Clearly, if that precedent is considered, rather than the Celtic's own former case, then the Scottish side won't continue in the competition, but precedent is not always the only thing to consider, and if there is a lesson from Sunderland's ineligibility issues last season, context changes everything. The reprieve would be a major thing for Celtic though, as it might mean the ability to keep the likes of Fraser Forster - linked to Southampton - and Virgil Van Dijk - linked to Newcastle - rather than having to sell them and rebuilding from scratch. Do you think Legia should be kicked out of the Champions League? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.