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Celtic begin their Champions League campaign in its brand new format at home against Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.
The Bhoys haven’t had much success in the Champions League in recent years so will be hoping that the new format can help them progress beyond the first phase for the first time since 2013.
For Slovan, this is the first time they have ever qualified for the Champions League proper.
Match Preview
Celtic Recent Form
Celtic have been pretty flawless at the beginning of the campaign in Scotland, winning every match so far in the League and League Cup.
In the Scottish Premiership, they have won five in a row versus Kilmarnock, Hibernian, St Mirren, Rangers and Hearts. On Saturday, they defeated Hearts 2-0 thanks to goals from new signings Arne Engels and Luke McCowan.
They have scored 14 goals in five league matches and conceded zero.
Celtic Injury News
Brendan Rodgers has a full squad at his disposal for this game.
Crucially, Celtic have strength in depth, particularly in the midfield area, that they arguably did not have in recent European campaigns. Brendan Rodgers will need to decide which two of Reo Hatate, Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels will feature alongside captain Callum McGregor in the midfield three.
Kyogo Furuhashi will likely start, but he has £9 million signing Adam Idah waiting in the wings for a starting berth.
Last Celtic Lineup
Here’s how Celtic lined up against Hearts.
Slovan Bratislava Recent Form
Slovan have already played lots of football as they had to reach the league phase by going through no less than four qualifying rounds. They bested Struga, Celje, APOEL and FC Midtjylland.
They have won four out of five games in domestic action, but they were also on the wrong end of a surprising 5-0 heavy defeat at home to Zilina.
Slovan Bratislava Injury News
Lukas Pauschek hasn’t been involved since July after suffering a shoulder injury, while centre-forward Adler is a long-term absentee due to a shin problem.
Last Slovan Bratislava Lineup
Here’s how…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/uefa-champions-league-celtic-fc-ck-slovan-bratislava/preview/3516611
Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-09-17 07:00:00
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