Celtic to face Cliftonville

Celtic to face Cliftonville

Published Jun. 24, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

Scottish Premier League kings Celtic have been drawn to play Northern Irish champions Cliftonville in qualifying for the Champions League.

Neil Lennon's side will host the first leg of a second-round qualifier on July 16/17 before heading to Belfast for the return game a week later.

Celtic reached the knockout stage of last season's competition thanks in part to a group-stage victory over Barcelona in Glasgow.

Elsewhere, Welsh club The New Saints were paired with Legia Warsaw of Poland, while Irish champions Sligo Rovers will take on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Norwegian side Molde.

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The winners of the second-round ties must come through two further rounds of qualifying to make the group stage.

First Qualifying Round:

Shirak v Tre Penne

Lusitanos v EB/Streymur

Ties to be played 2/3 and 9/10 July

Second Qualifying Round:

Neftci v Skenderbeu

Steaua Bucuresti v Vardar

Plzen v Zeljeznicar

FC Sheriff v Sutjeska

Birkirkara v Maribor

Sligo Rovers v Molde

IF Elfsborg v FC Daugava

HJK Helsinki v Nomme Kalju

FK Ekranas v FH Hafnarfjordur

The New Saints v Legia Warsaw

Celtic v Cliftonville

Dinamo Zagreb v CS Fola Esch

Gyor v Maccabi Tel-Aviv

BATE v Shakhtyor Karaganda

Shirak/Tre Penne v Partizan Belgrade

Slovan Bratislava v Ludogorets

Dinamo Tbilisi v Lusitanos/EB/Streymur

Ties to be played 16/17 and 23/24 July

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