CELTIC are not the only former European Cup winners playing for a place in the group stages of the Champions League.

Four-times champions Ajax – like Ronny Deila's Hoops side – are paying the price for their country's poor record in continental competition over recent seasons.

Ajax – managed by former Rangers midfielder Frank de Boer – travel to Rapid Vienna on Wednesday for the first leg of their third qualifying round tie.

The match in Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium comes 20 years after Ajax won the Champions League at the same venue – their most recent success in the competition.

De Boer, part of Louis van Gaal's victorious side against AC Milan, is pleased to be returning to the scene of the triumph, and said: "It could have been a much tougher draw, although we must still see at what level Rapid Vienna are. On paper we'll be favourites."

After four successive Dutch championship successes from 2011 to 2014, Ajax finished second last season.

Only champions PSV Eindhoven gain automatic entry to the group stages despite the Netherlands achieving six European Cup or Champions League wins, shared among three clubs.

Only Spanish, Italian, English and German clubs have won more silverware in European club competition, yet in two years' time the Dutch co-efficient could fall outside the top 12, which would mean even the country's league champions would be forced to play in the early rounds – like Celtic.

It is a vicious circle for Dutch clubs, who are having to join the competition so early in the season because of their poor past performance in Europe.

"They are playing in July already their most important game of the season," PSV director Toon Gerbrants said.

"The fewer points our clubs collect for the Uefa co-efficient, the earlier we have to enter the European competitions and the more difficult it becomes to get out of the situation," he said.

Uefa's co-efficient, which determines how many clubs each country can enter and at which stage of the competition, is calculated by performance over the five preceding seasons.

"We see it as a big problem," added Jelle Goes, the technical manager of the Dutch football association (KNVB).

"International matches at a high level are essential for players and coaches. Should Dutch players have fewer international assignments, that has an impact on the national team," he added.