UEFA decided at some point following Rangers financial meltdown and subsequent kicking and backstabbing from every club in the Scottish league that there was not sufficient competition in Scottish football to warrant direct qualification into the Champions League.
Now that Rangers are back in the top flight this might change in a few seasons, and you might get back to the qualification position that existed previously
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E...ampions_League
If Rangers had been in the English league they'd have been fined and docked 10 points.
In Scotland the powers that be got all holier than thou, and that was not deemed to be punishment enough.
So every club in the league quite publicly stuck the boot in.
What was that Grant was saying, something about being your own worst enemy?
Like it or not, Celtic need Rangers to be a strong opponent, and vice versa.
And you might get your UEFA rankings back.
In answer to the question, it's the 4th placed team, so this season it's Manchester City that have to play a qualifying round.
It's a pain in the backside, but it has to be done.
It's additional games, but it's early enough in the season for it not to cause problems - it might even be additional game time that's needed.