Celtic begin their 2024/25 Champions League campaign in Glasgow on Wednesday night as they welcome competition novices Slovan Bratislava to Celtic Park.
The Scots surely must be welcoming the arrival of a ‘Swiss model’ league phase format having endured a pair of nightmare group stage campaigns in recent years, and they’ve got a great chance of starting their competition with a victory on Gameweek 1.
Celtic impressed against some of Europe’s big boys in pre-season, and their summer form has permeated into the new season. Brendan Rodgers’ side have already emphatically won an Old Firm Derby and currently sit atop the Scottish Premiership through five games with a 100% record.
They’re taking on a Slovan side that had to work incredibly hard to earn their maiden Champions League berth. The Slovakian champions bypassed Struga, Celje, APOEL, and Midtjylland to qualify for the league phase and were the only team to enter the draw having started their journey from the first qualifying round back in mid-July.
The visitors once again lead the Slovakian top tier, but they oddly suffered a 5-0 home defeat to second-place MSK Zilina before the September break.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
Rodgers has few injury concerns heading into Celtic’s Champions League curtain-raiser, with Maik Nawrocki the only player likely to miss out. He’s currently nursing a calf injury.
The Celtic boss has opted for a similar starting XI in recent outings, and there are unlikely to be many – if any – changes from the team that topped Hearts at the weekend.
Summer arrival Arne Engels scored from the spot on his full Celtic debut and should keep his place in midfield, while Luke McCowan is pushing for a starting berth after coming off the bench to score at the weekend.
Celtic predicted lineup vs Slovan Bratislava (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Taylor; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kuhn, Furuhashi, Maeda.
The visitors are also healthy entering Wednesday’s fixture, with their sole absentee likely to be Lukas Pauschek, who’s dealing with a shoulder injury sustained last month.
Armenian sharp-shooter Tigran Barseghyan is the danger man for Celtic to be wary of, with the forward entering the contest having already scored ten times in all competitions this term.
Slovan also have veteran Slovakian internationals Vladimir Weiss and Juraj Kucka at their disposal. Former Tottenham defender Kevin Wimmer is also set for a start in midweek.
Slovan Bratislava predicted lineup vs Celtic (4-3-3): Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Bajric, Wimmer; Szoke, Kucka, Tolic; Barseghyan, Strelec, Weiss.
Wins have been ever so hard to come by for Celtic in the Champions League as of late, but they’re poised to enjoy a memorable evening on Wednesday.
The visitors are a rough and rugged outfit that have been through the wars to merely qualify for the league phase, and they will not make life easy for the hosts in this one. They’ll match the energy of a raucous Celtic Park and will not cease.
However, there’s something about these Rodgers-led Hoops which suggests they’re made of sterner stuff. Celtic have been blessed with a fairly kind league phase draw, and they have all the confidence in the world heading into Wednesday’s bout. It’s time for them to secure a rare continental triumph.
