Hearts will play in the Champions League qualifiers next season for the first time in 20 years after Celtic’s win over Rangers on Sunday guaranteed a top-two Scottish Premiership finish for both sides.
While fans of Derek McInnes’ side would have been hoping for Celtic to falter in the Old Firm derby to enhance their title chances, victory for Martin O’Neill’s side has ensured Rangers can now only finish third.
It means that the Glasgow clubs have been split for the first time since McInnes’ Aberdeen did it in consecutive seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The Scottish Premiership runners-up will be in the Champions League second qualifying round, with three ties to navigate before they reach the league phase.
The Premiership winners go into the play-off round – the stage in which Celtic lost to Kazakh side Kairat Almaty at the start of the season.
Hearts will hope it is them, rather than Celtic, who enter at that point of the qualifiers after winning a first title since 1960.
They can ensure that by beating Falkirk at home on Wednesday, then avoiding defeat at Celtic Park on Saturday. Should they win in Glasgow, what happens in midweek – when Celtic also visit Motherwell – is irrelevant.
Hearts were last in the Champions League qualifiers after the 2005-06 season, when they finished second to Celtic.
They beat Siroki Brijeg of Bosnia & Herzegovina in the second qualifying round, before losing to AEK Athens in the next round.
Rangers, meanwhile, will be in the Conference League qualifers unless Celtic win the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline Athletic. In that event, Danny Rohl’s side would move up to the Europa League preliminary rounds.
