CELTIC may well beat VfB Stuttgart in the Europa League play-off second leg this evening.
But you, I and the family cat know the European adventure for another season will most assuredly hit a brickwall in Germany.
A snowball has a better chance of surviving in hell than the Hoops overturning last week’s humbling 4-1 thrashing at what was once known as Fortress Parkhead.
Any chance of a fast start was derailed after 15 seconds following the unfathomable tennis-ball protest from a section of the so-called support that prompted a suitable reaction from Martin O’Neill that went along the lines of: “Anyone who thinks that is a good idea, needs their heads examining.”
The night got off to a false start and didn’t get much better as the German visitors eased through the gears on their way to a triumph that rendered tonight’s match virtually meaningless.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS…Martin O’Neill has much to ponder.
Back in August, we may have gone into what we hoped would be grand European odyssey, especially when we may have believed the minnows of Kairat Almaty would offer mere token resistance with the riches of the next stage of the Champions League beckoning.
Following two bizarrely-feeble performances against the Khazakstan outfit, in which Brendan Rodgers’ men couldn’t score a solitary goal in three and a half hours of footering and fumbling, the misfiring Hoops blew three penalty-kicks in the shoot-out en route to an embarrassing exit from Europe’s elite competition.
It was hardly any consolation to discover that Celtic’s conquerors completed the league phase rock bottom after seven defeats and a draw from their eight outings among soccer’s aristocracy.
Tonight, I fear O’Neill’s side are about to join them in European oblivion.
The players will be going through the motions, but, despite some encouraging words we may hear from within the camp, they must know this particular game is a waste of everyone’s time. Simply put, it is an exasperating irrelevance.
Undeniably, the focus at the moment is on Ibrox on Sunday. That’s got to be the target.
Back at the beginning of the Champions League excursion, there may have been genuine belief of a memorable evening or two along the way.
That’s gone now, buried in the graveyard of hope and ambition.
THE BALL’S AT YOUR FEET…Viljami Sinisalo in line to face Stuttgart.
It’s all about the domestic scene now and the quest for a fifth successive title. The Scottish Cup would be a bonus, but the 56th crown is the one that matters.
O’Neill’s selection for the 5.45pm kick-off will surely reflect that overpowering objective.
The astute Irishman won’t need any outside influences or advice from any talking head, but I would be just a tad thunderstruck if he took a risk with any of his key personnel before the High Noon confrontation in Govan.
It would be somewhere north of potty to field someone who will be tasked with performing at their highest level against Danny Ruhl’s side.
This is an Ibrox team currently basking in an avalanche of high praise, but, with a bit more scrutiny, you may form an entirely different opinion.
Three draws against Hibs, Motherwell and Livingston and two wins – one against a Kilmarnock outfit reduced to 10 men in the fourth minute – in their last five league outings doesn’t take my breathe away. I wouldn’t be ordering cases of vintage champagne on the back of that sequence.
However, it would be remiss not to realise the threat they will pose at the weekend. They are a physical unit and that outlook will not be enthusiastically welcomed by Sebastian Tounekti. There is little point in mentioning Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
And they will bombard the Celtic penalty area with well-planned set-plays from every angle.
THE BHOY DANE GOOD…centre-back Dane Murray could get the nod in Germany.
O’Neill will be justified in fielding a ghost team tonight. He will not be pilloried if his selection is on the receiving end of another hiding. No-one can derive any sort of pleasure witnessing the Hoops being turned over, but we have to look at the bigger picture.
In normal practice, I bodyswerve making any team predictions or likely formations, but I will break with tradition on this unusual occasion.
Viljami Sinisalo would be given the gloves with a back four in front of him consisting Colby Donovan or Anthony Ralston, Dane Murray, Auston Trusty – banned, of course, for Ibrox, – and Marcelo Saracchi.
The seemingly-inexhaustible Callum McGregor, who appears to want to be involved every time the champions go into action, could be flanked by Luke McCowan and Paulo Bernardo.
Up front, James Forrest, Junior Adamu and Tounekti could get the nod. For me, the best the twinkle-toed Tunisian can hope for as far as Govan is concerned is place among the stand-by squad.
That team reads: Sinisalo; Donovan or Ralston, Murray, Trusty, Saracchi; McCowan, McGregor, Bernardo; Forrest, Adamu and Tounekti.
Naturally, the man who matters, Martin O’Neill, may differ completely and I will not be one bit miffed.
However, I know which game means the most to me – and thousands of others – over the next few days.
Good luck to the team tonight.
ALEX GORDON
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from VfB Stuttgart v Celtic this evening – only in your champion CQN.
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