Former Celtic captain delivers big Shakhtar Donetsk verdict

After a weekend without football in the Premiership, Celtic make the trip to Poland to lock horns with Shakhtar Donetsk on the second matchday of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage. And it could turn out to be a tricky game for Ange Postecoglou’s side for sure.

Shakhtar Donetsk will be a side riding high on confidence, especially after their 4-1 win over RB Leipzig in the opening week of the Champions League. Interestingly, former Celtic player, Maryan Shved, scored twice in that game and could be one to watch out for.

Celtic’s last game was the 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid at Parkhead. The past weekend’s games were called off due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. So, they will be taking to the pitch next against Shakhtar, and will need to bounce back.

Many Celtic fans believe that the game against Shakhtar Donetsk could be much more straightforward, but not former club captain, Paul Lambert.

Former Celtic captain cautious about the game against Shakhtar Donetsk

As reported by the Scottish Daily Express, Lambert said about the game against Shakhtar Donetsk:

"“I think it’s a dangerous game.“I said that when the draw was made. I thought Shakhtar was going to be dangerous because it’s unknown in terms of what you’re up against. The players and manager will know but I think people on the outside will look in and go ‘it’s only Shakhtar’. But they’ve gone to Leipzig and won 4-1 and will be buoyant because of that.“It’s a dangerous, dangerous game. If Celtic win it will be a brilliant result but I’m pretty sure if they got a point, they’d take that and then they can hopefully take care of their next home game (against Leipzig). I think they need some sort of result this week though. They just need to get over that wee hurdle where they can get points away from home in the Champions League to get you through to the next round. At Celtic Park, I think they can match most.”"

As things stand, the Hoops appear to be in a difficult position in their Champions League group. If they lose against Shakhtar Donetsk as well, it would leave them pointless after the first two games, and would make qualification to the next round very, very tough.

At the same time though, it must be pointed out that Shakhtar Donetsk won last week against an RB Leipzig side that was very much on the way down and would sack their manager, Domenico Tedesco, after that result.

Interestingly, they bounced back at the weekend with a 3-0 win vs Borussia Dortmund, which is another problem for Celtic, with two games against the German side coming up soon in the Champions League group stage.