Celtic first-team duo left out of Europa League squad

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.