Ranking the potential Celtic opponents in Champions League playoff
James Forrest came through just as his team needed him most, earning Celtic a 1-0 victory over Rosenborg and advancing to the final qualifying round for the Champions League. Celebration was in order indeed.
But, a day later and now it is time to focus on what could be ahead of Celtic in the next round. With the Bhoys seeded in the “champions” route they get the advantage of avoiding the likes of Olympiacos, Copenhagen, APOEL and Maribor.
What is left is a group of five opponents that Celtic fans and the team know pretty well. Celtic should be plenty familiar with Slavia Prague, Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Qarabag due to previous ties in recent years between the two clubs.
Joining those three potential opponents are Astana and Croatian side Rijeka.
So, with the draw less than 24 hours away, who would we least like to see and most like to see drawn against us? Let’s take a look at the five teams in order of who we would like to see most to least.
1. Rijeka (Croatia)
In terms of potential opponents, this would be the dream matchup for the Hoops. Rijeka may have taken the Croatian title last season, but this is a club that has next to no European pedigree. Rijeka have never made the Champions League group stage and have only played six total games in qualifiers to date.
On the pitch, this team has had a pretty simple path so far in qualification. It got Welsh side The New Saints in the second round (a 7-1 aggregate scoreline) and Red Bull Salzburg in the third round (a 1-1 tie with advancement on away goals). If this was strictly about football, this is the easy pick and it still is overall.
The one detractor is that this kind of tie has all sorts of violence and bad things off the pitch written all over it. Rijeka have had some of the craziest things happen on and off the pitch and with Celtic already on UEFA’s bad side, I’d like to avoid this matchup just for fears of a closed-door situation happening. All I can see if provocation and fan response and UEFA coming down hard on us for issues in two of three rounds of qualifying. Not a good idea.
2. Astana
3,898…that is the amount of miles (6,274 kilometers) between Glasgow and Astana, Kazakhstan folks. Anyone feel like making that three-day road trip via car or take that flight?
These two sides don’t have much in the way of history, but Astana isn’t just some random club from a far-away land either. Celtic did beat them 3-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round last season. Astana also made the Champions League group stage in 2015-16 and have a lot of quality to them.
3. Qarabag
Repeat just about everything I said about Astana, because most of it holds true in the case of Qarabag (just 3,287 miles of distance though). Something about a trip to Azerbaijan seems oh so not appealing for the team and for the fans. Plus, Qarabag has a pretty good standard of making it to the Champions League proper in recent years.
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Celtic also have recent history with this club, winning a narrow 1-0 decision over two legs of a third round UCL qualifying tie back in the 2015-16 season. It was a nervy tie and one Celtic fans would like to forget, largely because it foretold a season of unacceptable results from Ronny Deila’s squad.
That said, the 2017-18 version of Qarabag comes in as the reigning five-time Azerbaijan Premier League champions and not afraid of anyone on any level anymore. While the names of the squad members may not be as recognizable to most fans, this is a quality side and getting them will not be an easy task.
4. Hapoel Be’er Sheva
One goal….one goal…one goal. Celtic appeared to have a qualification spot in last season’s Champions League group stage all locked up after a 5-2 win to open the tie at home. However, a 2-0 defeat in Be’er Sheva left Celtic fans around the globe super nervous and the club nearly out of the competition.
The upstart Israeli side went on to do some big things in the Europa League and might be the scariest team for Celtic to have to face once again. I mean, they beat Inter Milan and tied with Southampton in the Europa League. Hapoel repeated as champions in Israel again this past season and appear to be every bit as dangerous as they were last year.
Some sides may end up being intimidated by the atmosphere of a European night at Celtic Park, but Hapoel has recent experience with it and a giant-killer reputation growing as well. Please, please, please let us avoid this side. Oh, and that whole Green Brigade-Palestinian flag thing would be nice to avoid as well.
5. Slavia Prague
No team on this list scares me more than Slavia Prague, which sounds strange given they have the lowest of UEFA coefficients. However, this is also a side that was not exactly a fun one to go up against in a friendly just about a month ago. Slavia Prague were really good at kicking out at Celtic players and Celtic couldn’t control their emotions.
There’s also the fact that the tie ended in a draw and it felt like not only did the dirty play and actions of the hosts played a factor, but also they were a strong side that were tough to break down in the back. Celtic could have plenty of issues trying to score goals, and that’s kind of the point of the game, no?
As far as pure matchup goes, this is the one that scares me most. Celtic and Slavia Prague are like oil and water. Not a good mix at all and that’s a dangerous proposition when you are talking about wanting to make the group stage.
Overall Thoughts
On Friday we’ll know who the opponent will be. On Friday we’ll also know who we have to root to beat Olympiacos, Sevilla, Napoli or Liverpool in order for us to get in to pot 3 for the group stage draw.
The draw for the playoff round will happen at 12:00 CET (7am ET/6am CT here in the United States) and can be seen live streaming via UEFA.com.
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No matter the opponent, it appears as if Celtic will have its first real time where it may not be the full-on favorite. It will be interesting to see this draw play out and Celtic fans have plenty to root for beyond their team in this draw as well.