Celtic are not in a good position right now. They might have seen their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Champions League go up in smoke, but that is not even the beginning of their problems. To be honest, when the Hoops managed to qualify for the competition, not many had even expected them to go through anyway and what had raised the hopes was their performance vs Real Madrid.
So while not qualifying for the knockout stage is not make or break for Celtic’s season, their current issue when it comes to scoring goals could very well turn out to be that.
Celtic just can’t seem to find the back of the net at the moment. All of the players seem to have lost their scoring boots at the same time. And it is not just a problem exclusive to the Champions League either.
They drew a blank against St Mirren in a 2-0 loss, barely edged Motherwell with Callum McGregor having to take a red card late on to stop a goalscoring opportunity and then had to rely on an own goal and a 95th minute winner from Giorgos Giakoumakis to beat St Johnstone. Thus, if things don’t improve quickly, it could spell trouble for Celtic.
Celtic summer signing is key to solving goalscoring problems
In the middle of this terrible run of form, which has seen Celtic win two games out of seven, one man has managed to stand out. And that is Sead Haksabanovic.
Signed from Rubin Kazan in the summer, the Montenegro international has taken some time to attain fitness, as a result of missing the entire pre-season. But now, he looks up to speed and quite the player as well.
Haksabanovic had shown glimpses of his quality in his cameos and the game vs RB Leipzig proved to be a bit of a coming-out party for him. He barely put a foot wrong on the day.
Haksabanovic looked incredibly polished on the ball, his delivery was good and was without a doubt Celtic’s best creative outlet. Now, it is about him adjusting to his new surroundings and teammates as quickly as possible.
A great run of form from Haksabanovic can help Celtic bounce back, similar to how Kyogo set the tone early on in the previous campaign, when the Hoops were struggling. Let’s hope the Montenegro international can have a similar impact.