Can Celtic Keep up on Offense in Champions League?

Celtic makes its return to the UEFA Champions League, and naturally Barcelona is on the slate. However, so are Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach — a draw that couldn’t have possibly gotten harder for the Hoops.

It means any chance at survival in what some are calling this season’s Champions League “group of death” lies on this team being able to score goals in bunches. The natural reaction may be that Celtic need to bone up on its defensive effort, but with Barca and Man City in the group, goals are going to come.

There’s also recent history to figure in to the mix.

Let’s be 100 percent honest here, because goals being scored against the Bhoys is a common theme leading up to qualifying for the group stage of the Champions League. How does one combat that? By being able to match goal scoring threats with the same on your end.

Asking Celtic to keep clean sheets in this type of a group is just not realistic. What is realistic though? Asking Celtic to score goals to stay competitive.

Confidence is king, and after three leagu matches, no team in the Scottis Premiership can be as confident in its attacking options as the Hoops can. At least that is what star striker Leigh Griffiths believes to be the case.

“No, I don’t think they (other Scottish teams) can. We go forward at pace and hurt teams. It’s great to have those attacking options.”

Celtic have been prolific at scoring goals in the SPL so far this season, netting 10 goals in three matches so far. Perhaps most impressive was the most recent result, with the Hoops taking care of Aberdeen 4-1 at Celtic Park this past weekend.

Griffiths had his hand in that result, opening the scoring against the Dons and he has been in spectacular form to start the season in general. The 26-year-old striker has netted five goals and a pair of assists in six Champions League qualifying matches this season.

He’s also put up two goals and two assits in league play alone — all of it apparently while nursing a tweaked hamstring.

As good as he has been, Griffiths also points to an attacking group that has some flair and spark to it against fellow SPL competition.

“When we break at pace with me, Moussa (Dembele), Scott (Sinclair), James (Forrest), Patrick (Roberts), Tom (Rogic) and Ryan (Christie), who was on the bench, it’s formidable.”

It may indeed be formidable against the rest of Scotland, but it is one thing to crank out a ton of goals against Kilmarnok and Partick Thistle and a wholly different equation against Barca and Man City.

Few of the attacking options have the Champions League pedigree to believe Celtic can just back opponents off the attack. Outside of Griffiths, the rest of this group is untested at the highest levels of the European game.

Then there is also the questionable status of the impressive, but young, Roberts. Should he be ready to go after his own hamstring issue, his pairing with Sinclair on the wings and Griffiths up top could make Celtic a dangerous team in the Champions League.

Dembele has had plenty of time to impress during the start of Champions League qualification, and after coming oh so close in the first few games has started to find some form. He scored from the penalty spot in the 92nd minute against FC Astana in the third qualifying round, then found the back of the net in the 5-2 home leg victory over Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the playoff round.

The problem is, Dembele has been a sub more often than not and his services are likely to only be called upon should Celtic already find themselves in a hole.

Should the current form of Griffiths, Sinclair and even Rogic keep up early in Champions League play, this team may just have a chance to make some noise.

If not, it could be a long journey to the end of European competition for Brendan Rodgers’ squad.

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