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Celtic FC make tricky trip to Romanian Champions CFR Cluj

By Mick Kane

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JULY 17: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Image was created as an Equirectangular Panorama. Import image into a panoramic player to create an interactive 360 degree view.) A general view of Celtic Park during the UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round 2nd Leg match between Celtic and FC Sarajevo at Celtic Park Stadium on July 17, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JULY 17: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Image was created as an Equirectangular Panorama. Import image into a panoramic player to create an interactive 360 degree view.) A general view of Celtic Park during the UEFA Champions League First Qualifying Round 2nd Leg match between Celtic and FC Sarajevo at Celtic Park Stadium on July 17, 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images) /
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Celtic FC travel to Romania to take on CFR Cluj in the Third Qualifying Round of the Champions League.

Romanian champions CFR Cluj stand in the way of Celtic FC and a Champions League Play Off against Slavia Prague.

In what will be a step up in quality from the previous two rounds of matches against Nomme Kalju and FK Sarajevo, CFR Cluj will be a real test for Celtic.

CFR Cluj are already four games into their league season and sit joint top, having already beaten a famous name in Dinamo Bucharest. They also won on Saturday 4-1 away to Chindia Târgovişte. CFR Cluj knocked out Astana 3-2 on aggregate and Maccabi Tel-Aviv 3-2 over both legs as well en route to their clash against the Scottish Premiership holders.

Forward Billel Omrani seems to be their star player. The 26-year-old Frenchman scored a hat-trick against Astana in the first round. They also have a smattering of Portuguese, Croatian, Colombian and Argentinian players throughout the squad, none of whom are well known names to the casual football fan.

Celtic come into the match in good form, having comfortably sailed through the Champions League qualification process thus far. Add a great seven goal hammering of St. Johnstone this past Saturday when the league flag was unfurled, and you can see the makings of some conviction for the Hoops.

With Ryan Christie being the stand out performer thus far and the return of Leigh Griffiths to the team and scoring charts, Celtic go into the game full of confidence.

There could be a return to the team for big money signing Christopher Jullien, who missed out on Saturday due to suspension. Hatem Abd Elmahed should hopefully recover from a leg knock on his Scottish Premiership debut on Saturday, where he looked comfortable. It would be ideal to have the Israeli right back in the lineup for Wednesday’s match.

Cluj have won both home games in the Champions League so far, while going down 1-0 away to Astana and drawing 2-2 away to Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Celtic should expect a bit of pressure from the Romanian champs to start with. If Celtic FC can come through the initial flurry from CFR Cluj and get the game settled then we could see Celtic FC come away with a win.

Next. Celtic player ratings from 7-0 win over St Johnstone. dark

With key players returning from suspension, and momentum on their side, Celtic should have the talent level, and fitness to defeat CFR Cluj on aggregate over the course of the two legs.

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