Celtic have been handed a sensational Champions League reprieve after UEFA ruled Legia Warsaw fielded an ineligible player against the Scottish champions.

Henning Berg's side had advanced to the play-off round after winning the home and away legs on a convincing 6-1 aggregate.

But a UEFA disciplinary meeting convened before the European draws in Nyon decided Celtic should be awarded a 3-0 second leg victory - and advance on away goals - after Legia fielded defender Bartosz Bereszynski for the final three minutes of Wednesday night's win in Edinburgh.

VIDEO: Scroll down to watch Ronny Delia following Celtic's defeat on Wednesday

Reprieve? UEFA have launched an investigation into Celtic's Champions League defeat to Legia Warsaw

Suspended: Defender Bartosz Bereszynski came of for the final few minutes of the game

Going through? Bereszynski celebrates with team-mates as Legia Warsaw beat Celtic

Who is Bartosz Bereszynski? Bartosz Bereszynski is a Polish international who has won two caps for his country. He started his career at Lech Poznan in 2009 before joining Legia Warsaw in 2013. The 22-year-old was suspended for the match having picked up a three match ban last season after being sent off against Apallon in the Europa League. He could have served two matches of his suspension in the second round against St Patrick's but Legia failed to register the defender for those matches allowing Berg to choose from his full compliment of 25 players. Advertisement

News began to filter out for Uefa headquarters after the Legia chairman tweeted 'I failed' ahead of the official announcement.

Red carded against Cypriots Appollon Limassol in a Europa League game last season Bereszynski was supposed to serve his suspension in UEFA competition this season.

Unregistered for the second qualifying win over St Patrick's Athletic, however, the first opportunity to serve his ban came with during the Celtic tie.

His late appearance as a substitute in the second leg was reported to the governing body by the UEFA match delegate leading to his eligibility being investigated.

After being reinstated into the competition, Celtic were drawn against Maribor in the play-off round.

Legia are likely to fight the decision after spokeswoman Elizabeth Kus said: 'This is the result of a misunderstanding. We have already seen comments appear which threaten us with expulsion, but this is absurd. UEFA have only asked us to explain.'

Heat is on: Deila (left) sitting beside assistants John Collins and John Kennedy has suffered an horrendous start as Celtic boss following the Hoops failure to reach the group stage

SAY WHAT? Legia Warsaw midfielder Ondrej Duda gave a scathing assessment of Celtic's performance after the first leg, he said: 'St Patrick's playerd a lot tougher against us than Celtic. They gave us a very tough game in Warsaw. 'With Celtic, we didn't know what to expect, but we were expected to easily beat the Irish side, which we did, but only after a big fright and a good performance away. Fortunately, we regained our composure and we are now on the right track.' Advertisement

In an incredible twist this is the second time in three years Celtic have gained a UEFA reprieve following an ineligibility row.

In September 2011 Swiss club FC Sion were expelled from the Europa League for fielding ineligible players.

Sion won the qualifying tie 3-1 on aggregate, but following an appeal from Celtic, UEFA awarded the Parkhead club a 3-0 victory for each of the home and away legs of the tie which sent them into the group stages.

A UEFA statement said: 'Legia have been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player (article 18 of the UEFA Champions League regulations and article 21 of the Disciplinary Regulations). The match has been declared as forfeit meaning Legia Warszawa have lost the match 3-0.

'As a consequence, Celtic have qualified for the UEFA Champions League play-offs on away goals (agg: 4-4) and Legia will compete in the UEFA Europa League play-offs.

'In addition the player Bartosz Bereszynski has been suspended for one additional UEFA competition match for which he would be otherwise eligible. This suspension shall be added to the remaining two match suspension which the player still has to serve in accordance with the Control and Disciplinary Body decision of 13 February 2014.'

Hopeful: Celtic fans, pictured ahead of Wednesday's night clash at Murrayfield, will be hoping for a reprieve

Celtic will now be among the seeded teams for Friday's draw.

Legia Warsaw have five days within which to lodge an appeal, and a statement on the Polish's club website indicated they had requested UEFA's reasoning for the ruling before making a decision.

Celtic benefited from an ineligibility ruling during the 2011-12 season when they were reinstated into the Europa League group stages despite a qualifying defeat by Sion.

The Swiss side were ruled to have fielded five ineligible players after breaching a FIFA transfer ban and failed to reverse the decision during a lengthy legal battle.

Legia chairman Dariusz Mioduski vowed to challenge UEFA's decision.

He wrote on Twitter: 'Today, the sport lost behind closed doors. We made a mistake, sorry, but the penalty is disproportionate. Stay with us. We fight on.'



