In football, they say that a botched dress rehearsal is often followed by a successful debut. That’s exactly the motto Rod’s favourite club, Celtic, is banking on this evening as they kick off the group stage of the UEFA Europa League against Hungarian side Ferencváros. And Sir Rod will no doubt be in the stands, cheering on his lads and keeping his fingers crossed.
The Hoops can certainly look back on a successful start to the season – six wins from six games, top of the table in the Scottish Premiership. Everything could be rosy, were it not for that nasty 0–3 thrashing at the hands of arch-rivals Rangers at the weekend.
In the League Cup quarter-final, Celtic were taken apart in every possible way and were actually lucky to come away with a 0–3 defeat. “Rangers were a team; we were just a bunch of individuals,” grumbled Celtic captain Callum McGregor quite rightly after the final whistle.
But there’s a chance for revenge as early as Sunday, when the Hoops host Rangers at Celtic Park on Matchday 7 of the Premiership.
Before that, however, manager Martin O’Neill’s side are hoping to enjoy a magical night in the Europa League. Celtic are slight favourites against the 36-time Hungarian champions, but will need to put in a much better performance against the Budapest side than they did on Sunday against Rangers.
Celtic and Ferencváros have met three times so far, most recently in November 2021. Of those three matches, Celtic won two, whilst the Hungarians came out on top on one occasion.
Kommentar hinzufügen
Kommentare