Vorskla Poltava stand between Celtic and reaching the Women’s Champions League group stage for the first time, with the Ukrainian side hoping to make the same history themselves.
Natalya Zinchenko’s side were seeded for the “champions path” section of Monday’s draw courtesy of being 29th in Uefa’s co-efficient table, 53 places above Celtic.
But it was one of the kindest draws the Scottish champions could have had, avoiding five teams ranked between 10 and 17 in Europe, with only the Netherlands’ Twente ranked below their Ukrainian counterparts.
It should also be pointed out that Gintra, who Celtic beat 2-0 in Lithuania to qualify from their first-round group tournament, were themselves rated 36 spots ahead of the Glasgow side.
The higher ranking is largely because, while Celtic clinched their first national title last season, Vorskla Poltava have won theirs four more times since their first in 2016.
Not all those were under their current name as, until 2022, they were known as Zhytlobud-2 Kharkiv before changing title – and moving 89 miles south west to a different city further from the border with Russia.
They have played Scottish opposition once previously, under their previous name, drawing 1-1 with Hibernian in the 2017 Champions League league qualification group stage when the Edinburgh side finished second behind hosts Olimpia Cluj of Romania.
Indeed, under both guises, they have only progressed beyond the qualifying rounds once – before losing to Shymkent of Kazakhstan in the round of 32 three years ago.
Former Ukraine midfielder Zinchenko has been team boss since 2021, the 44-year-old having spent the previous three years as national head coach.
Eleven of her squad are part of Volodymyr Pyatenko’s current Ukraine set-up, including 60-times capped attacking midfielder Yana Kalinina.
They currently lie second on goal difference behind Metalist 1925 Kharkiv after winning their opening four games of their new Premier League season.
Meanwhile, they set up their meeting with Celtic by easing aside Latvian side Riga 5-0 before beating mini qualifying tournament hosts Ferencvaros 2-0 in Hungary, with Ukraine defender Kateryna Korsun scoring twice in the semi-final and once in the final.
