Away from the madness of the domestic scene for a bit, let’s take a look back at Celtic’s hopes of qualifying from the group stage of the Champions League.
With one point from six in the opening two games, at any other point in time, this would make any kind of progression very difficult.
But with the nature of this group and how the opening two fixtures have panned out for all teams bar Real Madrid the group is wide open for someone to claim second place.
Celtic, Shakhtar and RB Leipzig all have hopes of qualifying from the group and with only three points separating the bottom and second place, the group just needs grabbed by the scruff of the neck by one of the three and, in all honesty, it looks like Celtic have the advantage.
The Hoops are in good form in Europe. Barring some poor finishing, we could have been sitting comfortably in second. Hell, if we took our first half chances against Madrid, we could be sitting top!
With Donetsk going into a doubleheader with the Galactico’s you would expect the Ukrainians to come away with no points and Celtic have more than enough to take at least four from the Germans home and away.
This makes Hugh Keevins Champions League prediction very strange indeed.
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Keevins said, “I think with the games to come at home, they’ll get nothing against Madrid in Spain, but with Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk at Celtic Park, I think they can get points from that.
“They’re hanging in the balance whether they go out of Europe altogether or go into the Europa League.”
Hanging in the balance? Why is the glass half full when all the signs point to a more positive outcome for the Hoops?
The current form of Leipzig doesn’t suggest to me that they are any great threat. If we take four points and assume Donetsk lose both games, we will head into the game against the Ukraine side a point ahead in second place and four ahead of Leipzig who are to face Madrid.
Leipzig would need to beat Madrid at home to have any chance of salvaging their campaign and that is unlikely, at best.
Qualification for the Europa League would effectively be sealed so quite how Keevins can say they are hanging in the balance is a bit of a reach.
I guess the two home games for Celtic will be the deciding factor for us. Win both and qualification into the last 16 becomes a reality and not a dream
Of course it’s hanging in the balance. Your piece is all ifs, buts and maybes.
Yes, we could get 4 points from the Leipzig double header, we could also get 6, 1, 3 or 2!!!
Stop getting upset over an opinion.
Honestly feel we’ll be lucky to come out of the RBL games with 2 points from 2 draws. They’re a good team, gave Real Madrid a game of it, and are similar to us, play a high pressing game with similar players and playing style, and they’ve been creating chances but haven’t been taking them.
Should be two really good open games v them, but our players need to come back from the break with their shooting boots on to give us a chance