It has been nine years since we came through the Champions League qualification rounds successfully. After a bizarre first leg against Astana in 2017, which Celtic won 5-0 having only three attempts on target, they lost the return game by a single goal and progressed with little fuss.
So it is understandable that you have that nervousness about you today. None of that counts tonight, however. Different managers, different opponents and significantly different Celtic players were involved previously. The most observable thing about this Celtic team, is it is fresh.
Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Mika Baur and Haissem Hassan are just in the door and each have great purpose about them. Seb Tounekti and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were not involved this time last year. More importantly, neither was Martin O’Neill or Shaun Maloney.
Publicly, the other players will say little, but you can be sure Callum McGregor, Cameron Cater-Vickers, Liam Scales and Auston Trusty all believe they are winning this tie. The squad are here to create history and reach the top level of club football. That hangover you have from previous years does not exist among the players.
That’s not all that’s important, though. If Celtic progress, we will be a huge part of it. The largest stadium in the Austrian league is half the size of Celtic Park. Celtic supporters can be one of the most formidable hurdles in football. We can lift our side to greater things and create an environment where no visiting player wants the ball. Let’s do it!
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Shoot
Goal ⚽️ ⚽️ ⚽️
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
The Ox won’t be available……
We are not in isolation when it comes to recruitment, far from it, we compete against the likes of Lask, AEK, Bodo, Bruges, PSV, Braga, Sporting, Lens, Lille and the like, maybes we should employ their scouts, after all they can find players at a much greater reduced price than we can
Whoever is sitting in my seat ‘gie it laldy!’
Best of luck to our unfinished and unprepared squad tonight.
Thanks to the board this will be way more difficult than it should be, same as it ever was…..
Let’s out-sing the Von Trapps.
3-1 to the Bhoys.
Tough tie. We have scar tissue from so many previous play-offs. However if we don’t succeed it won’t because of the Board-induced catastrophes of Artmedia, AEK, Ferencvaros, Cluj and Kairat. They’ve given us a decent shot this time. Everything crossed.
The team and supporters as one
Unstoppable
I suppose there are people who are permanently negative no matter what…do they all have a negative blood group.
PeterLatchfordsBelly on 19th August 2026 12:37 pm
No replacement for an important midfielder?
No cover for goalkeeper?
No replacement for an injured right back?
No cover for left back?
Hardly a decent shot….
TET
So for years Celtic fans are moaning we don’t pay enough for players and the really ‘smart’ ones imply we should open the biscuit tin.
This season we commit to spending more on players and you cite a few teams in qualifiers who are buying cheaper.
Interesting.
TET- Exactly, some follow the party line (we need to use different currencies- MN), making it look like we’re trying to land a man on the Sun,employ experienced professionals, who have built up relationships with agents and Clubs.If you or i worked for one of Desmond’s companies, and missed a deadline for a £40 million return, you would be clearing your desk out in a heartbeat, not having the guys in ,that we all know we need,is gross negligence.
First of all, great to see Jota back on the training pitch, really good news.
Think we will win ok, my one slight concern is the lack of playing time our new players have had to adapt alongside of each other and their team mates, sure all will be well
KINGlUbO
Weebobbycollins
Some folk must wake up each day feeling utterly miserable and then spend the rest of their day finding reasons to blame everyone else for their abject miserable sad little lives.
Take a look at the squad of midfielders we have at our disposal for these 2 games, McGregor Baur, McCowan Hatate and Nygren only 1 from the official list on the club website Oxlade chamberlain is suspended so unavailable, how do we cover that if needs must sub for injuries etc? We are at least 2 short even if they can all contribute on a matchday.
Johnston out till November
WBC @ 12:42
Wow.
Didn’t take long for your supposition to be subsequently supported by a real life instance.
Photo finish in fact !
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C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoops 🎶
C’mon The Hoo-oops 🎶
Here we are again. The biggest game of the season.
We keep winning our league, knowing that THIS game is waiting for us.
Our preparation is always poor. Proper preparation should start in January. We know that an Engles or a Kuhn will be wanting away, so get their replacement in during the January window. If we don’t win the league, we have players to sell, so no hardship there.
If we DO win the league, the January replacement will be ready to do his job. If we don’t win the league, we sell someone.
The worst thing would be that we have a stronger squad for the 2nd half of the season.
There is no reason that we can’t be in the CL 2 out of 3 years.
It looks like the board don’t want us to be in the CL….
Cheers,
Weeron
TET
Give me any team in the champions league pathway play offs who has spent more than us this window ?
Smoke signals out for the happy clapper gang…😄
Another 3 month muscle injury after playing in the WC when did he do his pre season ?
Tell me who any of the clubs in the champions pathway tonight or last night has signed that we coulda woulda shoulda signed this window ?
Tell me how many of those clubs have spent even half of what we have ?
Tell me how we can force the football world to shift its timescales for deadlines in the top leagues to suit Celtic.
All those sad folk in life who need someone to blame for their own pathetic inadequacies really do rip my knitting CFC
Bada
Aye if you say so.
Significantly better than being negative losers who spend their life projecting blame on folk in charge who they perceive to be better off.
Just my opinion of course.
onenightinlisbon
Bang on.
And AOC suspended.
Lazy.
B78
Our need for quality may be greater than others – 2 off our recent signings haven’t started a game yet. These signings have been welcome – we’ll see if it’s been enough- but as every manager has previously commented we are very late in our signings.
I’m hopeful we will qualify.
BTW
As frustrated as anyone we have not got the best cover for LB, GK and DM plus RB (injury). However I kinda live in the real world.
We have cover with more European and international experience than our opponents in all these positions and just as little in the GK cover position.
We also have really strong attacking options and massive experience in our on field leadership group.
If AJ is out until November we’ll need areplacement IMO. I’ve a feeling we’ll get past LASK with Donovan/Ralston, but wouldn’t like to be facing the bigger guns in the group stage with that our only option . AJ may well be off in January anyway .
I would never consider myself as a happy clapper(just ask my wife) but I do believe it’s easier to be positive and hopeful rather than negative and pessimistic, especially when it comes to a game of football at Celtic Park. After the game, of course, things can change. :-)
We only ever planned for the EL.
Gene
I take your point. We simply don’t work in isolation in the transfer market and the timings of qualifiers for poorer leagues such as ours simply so not help us when seeking the higher level of talent we are trying to sign this season imo. Totally appreciate that we are a bit undercooked though.
Maybe move season start earlier by a week and I really don’t get the logic of cancelling Saturdays St Johnstone game. More minutes feels good for our guys but not seeing much else the club could do as the window is the window.
B78
Maybe we’ll organise a bounce game for Saturday
Heard it all now
“The board don’t want us to be in the CL”
My god
Grow up ffs.
What a truly sad place for anyone to get to.
Gutted re AJ news. That is huge.
Guy should have been resting this summer instead of playing in a WC considering he missed 7 months or more and needed surgery on a high up hamstring injury, but no played in the WC.
VALE BHOY
Ross Desmond said as much at the AGM and I don’t think he was simply expressing a personal opinion .
He was confirming the strategy set out by his father .
A vision and strategy not aligned with the vast majority of the fans.
Ironically , this might just be the season we prove him wrong .
vale bhoy on 19th August 2026 1:16 pm
onenightinlisbon
Bang on.
And AOC suspended.
Lazy.
But we are moaners and should be grateful to the board for yet another champions league “roll of the dice”…
Pathetic happy clapping bullshit.