Celtic endured a tough start to their season under the management of Ange Postecoglou when they were knocked out from the UEFA Champions League qualifiers by FC Midtjylland. And at that point of time, there were some fears that the club could end up not making the group stage of the Europa League either.
Thus, the Hoops do deserve a lot of credit for turning things around since then and making it to the group stage of the competition.
In the qualification phase they had to beat FK Jablonec in the third round and AZ Alkmaar in the play-offs. Now the club have been placed in a tough group along with Real Betis, Bayer Leverkusen and Ferencvaros.
It is safe to say that things could get interesting, especially if the Hoops continue to improve as they have over the course of the past couple of months. While they are not the favourites to get through the group, it would be a mistake to count them out.
Celtic duo left out of club’s Europa League squad
As reported by the Daily Record, this is Celtic’s Europa League squad:
* – denotes player B list (academy trained)
Goalkeepers
Vasilis Barkas
Joe Hart
Scott Bain
Ryan Mullen*
Defenders
Christopher Jullien
Stephen Welsh*
Carl Starfelt
Liam Scales
Cameron Carter-Vickers
Osaze Urhogide
Anthony Ralston
Josip Juranovic
Greg Taylor
Dane Murray*
Kerry McInroy*
Midfielders
Nir Bitton
Kyogo Furuhashi
Callum McGregor
Liel Abada
Ismaila Soro
James McCarthy
Tom Rogic
Liam Shaw
James Forrest
*Scott Robertson
*Ewan Henderson
Forwards
Giorgos Giakoumakis
David Turnbull
Jota
Albian Ajeti
Mikey Johnston
Adam Montgomery*
Owen Moffat*
Karamoko Dembele*
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Interestingly, neither Boli Bolingoli nor Conor Hazard have been included in the squad. Luca Connell has not found a place in the squad either as he continues to struggle for minutes at Parkhead despite impressing away on loan last season. Also, the inclusion of Scott Robertson appears to be a mistake since he recently completed a loan exit.
Overall, it is a strong squad and it will be interesting to see how the Hoops perform in the competition this season. If they are at their best, then they certainly could spring a surprise here and there, and make it to the knockout phase.
Celtic will begin their Europa League group stage campaign with an away trip to face Real Betis in what is a tie fans of both clubs are looking forward to.