Celtic are looking for some Champions League positivity after their thrashing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.
But they won’t have got much when they look at how their remaining rivals fared with some huge results for their league phase opponents. Only two of the six teams they have still to face lost this midweek and even then RB Leipzig showed enough in their defeat to Juventus that they will be a tough nut to track at Parkhead. Here, Record Sport rounds up the results of Celtic’s opponents.
Atlanta (away October 23)
Next up for Brendan Rodgers and the Hoops is Atalanta and their Shakhtar Donetsk stroll underlined the task that will face the Scottish champions in Bergamo later this month. The Europa League holders didn’t have to get out of second gear and Ademola Lookman is clearly the danger man as he set up the opener for Berat Djimsiti before netting the second and Raoul Bellanova completed the scoring in Gelsenkirchen to make it four points from two games after they drew with Arsenal in the opener.
RB Leipzig (home November 5)
The Germans were edged out in a five-goal thriller by 10-man Juventus after the Serie A giants had goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio. The shot-stopper was sent off on the hour for a handball outside the box with the score at 1-1, after Dusan Vlahovic cancelled out Benjamin Sesko’s goal for the hosts. Slovenia forward Sesko restored Leipzig’s lead with a 65th-minute penalty before Serbia striker Vlahovic made it 2-2. In a thrilling match, Francisco Conceicao scored in the 82nd-minute to make it two wins out of two for Juventus in this season’s competition.
Club Brugge (home November 27)
This is another game Celtic will be targeting maximum points but the Belgians showed their strength as they won on the road against Sturm Graz to bounce back from their defeat to Borussia Dortmund in their opener. Greek winger Christos Tzolis netted the only goal for the team who are fourth in the Belgian league.
Dinamo Zagreb (away December 10)
This was perhaps the most surprising result of all of Celtic’s opponents with the Croats – thumped 9-2 by Bayern Munich in their first game – earning a point against Monaco – and the French cracks, who beat Barcelona in their first game, had to come from two goals down with a late penalty snatching a draw. Petar Sucic and Martin Battering netted for Dinamo but Mohammed Salisu and Denis Zakaria, from the spot, levelled.
Young Boys (home January 22)
The Swiss side suffered like Celtic 24 hours previously as they were on the end of a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Barcelona in the Not Camp, with Robert Lewandowski helping himself to a double. Young Boys boss Patrick Rahmen was only appointed in the summer but he is struggling with his side second bottom of the Swiss Super League. Celtic will be banking on three points when the visit Parkhead in their penultimate league phase clash.
Aston Villa (away January 29)
Unai Emery’s heroes produced a stunning 1-0 win over Bayern Munich – the same scoreline as when they defeated the German giants 42 years ago to lift the trophy. It was a night of history at Villa Park with Jhon Duran netting the only goal late on. It’s now two wins from two for the English Premier League side.