Scottish champions Celtic have a difficult task ahead after being drawn in the Champions League in a “group of death.”

Brazilian legend Roberto Carlos was the one who opened the seal that revealed that Celtic would face Spanish giant Barcelona, English side Manchester City – the two favourites to go through to the next stage – and German side Borussia Monchengladbach.

“You don’t get any easy draws but this one is pretty tough. There’s glamour with Barca, and City will be really interesting,” Chief Executive Peter Lawwell confessed. Albeit, he considered it more lucrative than dealing in the lower league – the Europa League.

“Financially, it is very lucrative if you compare it to the Europa League. It’s about £18 million of a difference. That’s obviously very important for us in that it adds to the financial stability we have in taking the club forward,” Lawwell added.

After the former FIFA President Sepp Blatter confessed that draws have been rigged in the past, a change was expected. This time, some former players were called upon to help with proceedings. Aside Carlos who sealed the fate of Celtic, other stars were present. There was AC Milan legend Clarence Seedorf, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, and Red Devils legend Ruud van Nistelroooy. They drew the different pots, leaving Carlos to decide.

Celtic were picked after Besiktas, and they could have ended up in Group B alongside Benfica, Napoli and Dynamo Kiev – less intimidating teams. Welsh legend Ian Rush placed the teams in their groups, and he is the ambassador considering that the finals would be in Cardiff.

“So we’ve got a lot to give. I’m sure we’d have full houses whoever we’d drawn. We’d not had this for two years. We were all desperate to get back into it. This competition catches the imagination,” Lawwell added in consolation.