There has barely been time for Brendan Rodgers to settle into his honeymoon after his Loch Lomond nuptials last week but the Hoops boss has little time to contemplate married life than he will be on the road again.

Celtic will watch with interest as the draw for the opening two rounds of the Champions League qualifiers takes place on Monday, with the Parkhead side going into the competition at the second stage.

Celtic are the highest seeded team in the second round and will find themselves paired against one of 17 possibilities, 12 of which are confirmed and five will be determined by the winners of the first qualifier.

That takes place between ten teams from the smallest teams in Europe. The five winners will progress to the second stage with some ties looking more inviting than others for the Treble winners.

Last term Celtic made it through to the group stages of the Champions League but there were anxious moments in their final two rounds with both Astana and Hapoel Be’er Sheeva difficult opponents.

The timing of the games makes qualification all the more arduous and while Celtic will comfortably expect to negotiate this second round qualifier, the bar raises considerably.

Certainly, Rodgers was taking no chances with his preparations for this summer with all eyes trained firmly on what are arguably the most important games of the season for Celtic.

There were lucrative pre-season friendly tournaments on offer for the Parkhead club, a facility they have cashed in on in other summer with long-haul trips to Australia and America.

But for Rodgers, whose attention to detail and preparatory detail has been well noted, there was no chance of endangering qualification with unnecessary complicated tours.

“We’ll be in Europe, not too far and we’ll be back mid-June,” he said, when explaining that Celtic would base themselves in Austria in the opening weeks of their pre-season campaign.

“There are no glamour games planned. Celtic could go to Boston, I went there with Liverpool and head a great pre-season but you can’t really do it when you’ve got such important games three weeks into the season.

“So you just have to do your work here then get away for 10 days and work hard, bond and get some good games.”

The amount generated by qualification for the group stages is eye-watering, with Celtic believed to have banked between £25m and £30m from last season when they went up against Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach.

And yet, while the finances are massive in allowing the club to build from a position of strength and continue to attract players, the fact remains that from a simple football prerogative the chance to play against the best excites players and supporters in a way that no other completion does.

Due to their seeding Celtic will avoid the likes of Red Bull Salzburg, Copenhagen, Bate Borisov, APOEL and Maribor.

The 12 possible opponents for the Hoops are already confirmed but there will be five other names in the hat when the opening round has been complete. The 12 confirmed teams so far are:

Zilina (Slovakia)

Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania)

Dundalk (Ireland)

Vardar (Macedonia)

F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg)

Kukesi (Albania)

Zrinjski Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro)

Honved (Hungary)

IFK Mariehamn (Finland)

Spartaks Jurmala (Latvia)

Samtredia (Georgia)

Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk side acquitted themselves last season in Europe where they made it into the group stages of the Europa League. Their involvement was not sufficient to win them a seeded place meaning that their attempts to get through again this season will be particularly difficult.

Dundalk collected four points from six games in their Europa League group where they were drawn with AZ Alkmaar, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zenit St Petersburg.

The one they would like to avoid is Linfield, with the Northern Irish side a possibility if they negotiate a way through the first qualifier. That game would be a potential flashpoint with the game set to be played on either the 11th or 12th July, a powederkeg that Celtic would ideally like to miss.

Last season Celtic’s inaugural game in the competition – and Rodgers first game in charge – ended with an ignominious 1-0 defeat to Lincoln Red Imps, a result that was inevitably turned over in the return leg in Glasgow.

In the months that have followed since that sweaty night in Gibraltar, much has changed for Celtic with Rodgers putting his stamp firmly on the club. Not that it makes the qualifying process any less fraught.

“I would like to think going into the qualifiers we will be a stronger squad,” he said. “We will retain the ones we have and then touch wood we will be able to make the additions we want.

“There’s a real happiness in the group. They like how they are being asked to play and how we work. I think they see the benefits of it and our goals are beyond this season.

“So arriving into the qualifiers, hopefully we will be in a good place. We will certainly be in a much better place than we were last year.

“It doesn’t make it any less anxious but at least we’ll be much better prepared for it.”

The expectation will be that Celtic progress comfortably from round two before they will then go into the third round and once again be seeded.

This round splits into two sections – the champions route and league route.

Celtic will enter the champions route with both draws made on July 14.

Ties will be played July 25/26 and August 1/2.

The 17 winners in round two will join Olympiacos (Greece), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) and Viitorul Constanta (Romania) in the champions draw.

The play-off spot is the toughest of all to negotiate with Europe’s top leagues all having representatives in the tournament at that stage.