What does Premiership climax mean for European places?
What does Premiership climax mean for European places?
Clive Lindsay - BBC Sport ScotlandSun, May 17, 2026 at 8:55 AM UTC
0
What does Premiership climax mean for European places?
Celtic and Heart of Midlothian were already guaranteed places in next season's Champions League qualifiers before Saturday's dramatic and chaotic head-to-head finale to the Scottish Premiership season.
But the hosts' comeback to win 3-1 and overtake the long-time leaders for a fifth successive title means it is Celtic who will enter Europe as champions and Hearts as runners-up.
So what does it mean in terms of their respective paths to potential Champions League riches - and for Scotland's other European representatives after Motherwell pipped Hibernian for fourth place?
Resilient Celtic time run perfectly to win race after eight-month chase
'Celtic gave me reasons to live' - but O'Neill unsure about staying on
Why Hearts' title tilt is unlikely to be a one-off
What are Celtic and Hearts' Champions League paths?
Eleven astonishing final minutes at Celtic Park not only denied Hearts a first Scottish league title in 66 years but also a one-game route into the Champions League for the first time.
Instead, it is Celtic who will enter the play-off - the final round of qualifying - while Hearts enter the second of four qualifying rounds in July.
Lose in the play-off and Celtic would drop into the Europa League proper.
Meanwhile, should Hearts reach the third qualifying round and then lose, Derek McInnes' side will also earn direct qualification into the Europa's league phase.
However, lose in their opening qualifier and Hearts will drop into the third round of qualifying in the Europa League - two ties away from the league phase.
Defeat in either round would involve a drop down to the Conference League.
Lose in the third round of qualifying would mean Hearts would have to play a qualifier to reach the league stage, but a defeat in the Europa League play-off would be compensated by a direct place in the Conference League.
So who might Celtic and Hearts play?
Celtic will be seeded in the Champions path section of the play-off round.
So far, Norwegian champions Viking are the only confirmed side among five potential unseeded opponents.
Greek champions AEK Athens, who have former Hearts left-back James Penrice in their squad, and the winners of the Austrian Bundesliga must await six winners from the third qualifying round to find out if they are seeded.
LASK currently lead Sturm Graz going into Sunday's final fixtures in Austria.
Hearts will be unseeded in the second round of qualifying and will face a tough tie whether it is Bodo/Glimt, Fenerbahce or whoever finishes runners-up in Greece between Olympiakos and former Celtic left-back Greg Taylor's PAOK.
The league season in Greece also concludes on Sunday.
Advertisement
What about Scotland's other representatives?
Rangers must wait to find out if third place in the Premiership comes with more than just entry to the Conference League second qualifying round along with Motherwell, who clinched fourth by beating Hibs on Saturday.
Danny Rohl's side will be promoted to the Europa League unless second-tier Dunfermline Athletic cause a Scottish Cup final shock by preventing Celtic completing a league and cup double and Neil Lennon's side return to European football for the first time since 2007.
Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic, Denmark's Midtjylland and Norway's Tromso have so far booked their places in the Europa League second qualifying round.
Should Dunfermline lose at Hampden, Hibs, who finished fifth, will take Rangers' place in Conference League qualifying.
The Scottish sides will only know if they will be seeded once the full list of qualifiers is known.
So far qualified are Panathinaikos, AEK Larnaca, Rijeka, HJK Helsinki, Zrinjski Mostar, Vaduz, Tobol, Panevezys, Dunajska Streda, GAIS, IFK Gothenburg, Varazdin, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Paks, Debrecen, LNZ Cherkasy, Zeleznicar Pancevo, Koper, Bravo, Turan Tovuz, Valur, Auda and Shelbourne.
How much is Europe worth next season?
The incentive for Celtic and Hearts to reach the Champions League proper is a bonus of at least £17.5m in prize money - more depending on television fees.
Every victory in the league phase is worth £1.8m, with each draw worth £600,000.
Even finishing bottom of the 36 qualifiers will earn £238,000, increasing by the same amount with each higher position earned.
Finishing in the top 24 brings with it significantly higher amounts for reaching the later rounds.
There is also £151,500 offered for every round of Champions League qualifying played, which means Hearts could earn £455,000 by the time they reach the league phase - if they get that far.
The Europa League is far less rewarding, bringing with it £4.06m for qualifying for the league phase - £7.8m for clubs qualifying after losing in the Champions League play-offs - with £257,000-£9.3m available from television fees.
There is £390,000 on offer for each win and £130,000 per draw, while each league position is worth £65,000.
Meanwhile, for reaching the Conference League's league phase, there is a minimum of £2.75m in prize money.
Each league position is worth £24,000, with £77,600-£2.8m available in television revenue and each match worth £346,000 for each win and £115,000 for a draw.
Even if Hearts lose qualifying matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League and fail to qualify for the league phase of any competition, they would amass £650,000 in prize money for exiting at that stage and an additional £458,000 for featuring in three different qualifying rounds.
Source: “AOL Sports”
