Celtic will play Swedish champions Helsingborg IF in the Champions League play-off round later this month. Helsingborg eliminated Polish champions Slask Wroclaw in the last round, winning 0-3 in the first leg in Poland, but our man in Poland assures me Slask were one of the weakest Polish champions in recent season and have lost several players over the close season. Helsingborg also eliminated The New Saints (you thought you knew British football) from Wales in the second qualification round.
Although like all sensible Northern European leagues, the Swedes are midseason, this is a straightforward proposition for Celtic, who will be slight favourites to qualify for the Champions League group stage.
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I wonder if Real Madrid could be persuaded to give us a couple of players on loan at the weekend till the end of August?
!!Bada Bing!! on 10 August, 2012 at 11:41 said:
JuveBhoy on 10 August, 2012 at 11:39 said:
a first place podium at last!
Given recent events,is this the first case of CQN Podium Fixing ?:}
Ha! very good! I am not guilty of any podium fixing, I just didn’t declare that I was aware other were doing it..
I gave up this petty game once it became obsessive to some and CQN became that popular that there was over 1000 replies. Ah the old days…
Hartson’s Comb
I think Basle, Braga and Dynamo Kyiv all have a good chance of exiting against Cluj, Udinesse and Borussia Munchengladbach.
Even Anderlecht have a tough one against the Cypriots who have a team full of guys with dual nationalities.
Malaga have a great chance of beating Panathaniakos as well.
No easy ties in Europe and that goes for Celtic as well but I think we got the best draw for us given our local knowledge, climate and style of football. We also crucially play away first with the end of the tie in our own hands at home which only Anderlecht got as well.
A bad game at home for Basle against Cluj and they are in bother.
Dinamo Zagreb vs Maribor is a Derby of sorts as well.
Paul67, so Newco out of Europe for five years, seems about right.
Helsingborg?
Helsingborg?
Is that no’ that character in Breaking Bad?
Seriously though, happy with that draw.
We should be capable of progressing into the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE !!!
Paul 67 –
A good draw – although it will not be easy.
It’s all about Billionaire Friday though – timing is everything…
Ha Ha Ha Ha
… but couldnt deline the opportunity when it arose!
I saw the first leg against the New Saints and Helsingborgs did not look like a team who should trouble Celtic, particularly if we strengthen in the areas required.
Central defender and out and out goal scorer please.
The investment will be repaid several times over.
Over to you Mr Lawwell.
Neil knows who he wants. Release the funds.
This will be a very tough t
Paul67
Time stamp function, to prevent scrolling the entire page after refreshing, is not available on HTC phone. Are there plans to sort this?
I seem to have the old format on this article?
No complainin just observin like
hh
79caps – with all due respect, with our playing staff and budget we should be beating Helsingborg 99 times out of 100 over 2 legs.
That is not over confidence, that is just a fact. We should be far better prepared and equipped than them.
This will be our best chance in a long time for a berth in the group stages and I hope our players grasp it with both hands.
We need to take our chances and we need a striker who can do that and create them as well. That isn’t Hooper
Hartsons Comb on 10 August, 2012 at 11:55 said:
+++++
Braga play Udinese, who are also above us in the seedings.
Spartak play Fener, who are also above us in the seedings.
Kopenhagen play Lille, who are also above us in the seedings.
So, whilst it benefits us (from a ‘weaker potential pot 3’ opponent perspective) that the unseeded teams there go through, we’re really looking for 3 from elsewhere to do the business for us:
FC Basel 1893 (SUI) v CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)
AEL Limassol FC (CYP) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Málaga CF (ESP) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) v FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Big ask, to be honest. We’ll be in pot 4.
2 more wins please Celtic and, yes, pot 3 would be nice.
No reason why we can’t start making our huge wage bill and talent pool count. Players have pace, physicality and hunger now.
Oh, and a new striker please Celtic.
Mmmm ——
IKEA HQ and the home of Swedish Death Metal.
Rome – Copenhagen return @ 200 euros.[ and then a wee ferry]
Rome —- Malmo return @ 850 euros .[wow !]
Looks like Copenhagen . The woman from Padova fancies a trip to Copenhagen . I fancy a wee trip to the excellent reggae store in Christiana .
Another trip to the cool north. -Yes !.
<b> tags not working now?
italics?
FC Basel 1893 (SUI) v CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)
AEL Limassol FC (CYP) v RSC Anderlecht (BEL)
Málaga CF (ESP) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) v FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
SoT
Do you actually go to the games or do you just look around the old record shops?
:0)
Best draw we could have had, let’s thump them… hh
Paul67 on 10 August, 2012 at 11:58 said:
KJam, by the time Newco is eligible for Europe Rangers Uefa coefficient will be zero.
—
Paul, their coefficient points may be close to zero but it won’t be exactly zero will it? Will they not have accumulated coefficient points that all teams receive based on the performance of the all the country’s clubs? For example, according to Bert Kassie’s, for the 2012-13 season, (a club listed as Glasgow Rangers) has accumulated 0.5500 points.
Great draw, predicted that this morning on CQN. It’ll be tough ok but we have a few games under out belt now and we need to beat this level of team if we aspire to becoming a force in Europe.
HH
dirtymac » fast forward to the G.O.D on 10 August, 2012 at 12:10 said:
—
You’re right. I stand corrected. Thanks for doing more homework than I did!
Apparently Dead Parrot Fc legend Bedoya is going to Helsinborgs.
I posted this morning we may have an interest in Darcy Blake of Cardiff who has refused to sign a new contract and wants regular first team football. 23 year old Welsh International CB.
@ Hartsons Comb
The points are based on results from the previous five seasons.
A new striker would be great but the cost would be including wages well north of 10M. Seeme to me the sensible thing would be to wait to see if we qualify for the CL and then decide.
greenjedi
For a long time our gripe was that we didn’t have a penalty box striker(see Hooper v Helsinki at Parkhead), now we have one(or two) and you’re saying he’s not what we need? Yes Hooper is not a Henrik Larsson but he is a goalscorer.
Let the midfielders(and big Mulgrew) do the creating and let the strikers be there to knock them home.
Otherwise the ball from Samaras would have flown across the face of goal that night, the equaliser against Helsinki might not have come and we might be looking forward to a Europa League qualifier at the moment.
HH
What we do need is a Sutton type- they don’t grow on trees unfortunately
HH
Swedish media reporting Helsingborgs delighted to have us.
Play-Off draw for the Champions League was just what the Helsingborg IF had hoped for.
HIF would have wished for Celtic.
And it did!
“Wonderful lot! Celtic …” Mattias Lindström wrote on Twitter after the draw
The first match played at Olympia on Tuesday, August 21. The return in Glasgow on 29: e
Helsingborg, if my memory serves me right…
That was the team Henrik Larsson played for the year that the RFC(IA) fans destroyed Manchester.
Henrik scored more goals for Helsingborg in Europe that year (nine, I think) than the whole RFC(IA) team that got to the final!
greenjedi on 10 August, 2012 at 12:02 said:
I wonder if Real Madrid could be persuaded to give us a couple of players on loan at the weekend till the end of August?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
You are not too far wide of the mark to be honest.
I do not doubt for one second, that conversations such as these may take place between the relevant parties during these ‘friendlies’.
I recall the Barca president at the time of our games against Barca, (Snr La Porta?) speaking very highly of PL, and also ourselves as a club, and what come next – Marc Crosas.
KJam, aye. Nothing this year, three years accounts required before they can apply during the fifth season for access in the sixth season.
Steinreignedsupreme, yes.
hamiltontim, major changes still due to take place on the site over the next few days.
Dirtymac, I could make an argument for each of the four lower seeds progressing. Don’t underestimate Cypriot, German or Spanish football. Cluj are no slouches either.
Hartsons Comb, correct.
Snake- yes, Shortbread mentioned that[ they can’t help themselves..] but no mention in the item of the Larsson link to both clubs.
So Godawful maybe goin’ to Helsingborg is worth more of a mention than the KOK.
Decent draw.
Not over confident but this defo gives us an opportunity to progress. I’m with Sammy. 50/50.
I believe some of you might just be setting yourselves up for a CQN meltdown if we happen to miss out on CL group.
That’s the way of it I suppose.
MWD
Did someone not say the deadline for signing players for the next round is the 13th, which is Monday. If true, I think it will be as we were for the Swedes.
CONFIRMED – 21ST AUGUST AWAY LEG.
Play-offs , 1st leg : 21-22 August 2012 21 August 2012 21 August 2012 – UEFA Champions League, Play-offsMore »
Spartak Moskva 18.00 Fenerbahçe
Referee: TBD – Stadium: Stadion Luzhniki, Moscow (RUS)
08/10/2012 12:22:16
21 August 2012 – UEFA Champions League, Play-offsMore »
Mönchengladbach 20.45 Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: TBD – Stadium: Borussia Park, Monchengladbach (GER)
08/10/2012 12:22:21
21 August 2012 – UEFA Champions League, Play-offsMore »
Lille 20.45 København
Referee: TBD – Stadium: Grand Stade Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d’Ascq (FRA)
08/10/2012 12:22:21
21 August 2012 – UEFA Champions League, Play-offsMore »
Basel 20.45 CFR Cluj
Referee: TBD – Stadium: St. Jakob-Park, Basel (SUI)
08/10/2012 12:22:31
21 August 2012 – UEFA Champions League, Play-offsMore »
Helsingborg 20.45 Celtic
Referee: TBD – Stadium: Olympia, Helsingborg (SWE)
All this talk of a museum and new superstore is all well and good, but won’t it be overshadowed by the £700m megadome casino development at ibrox?!
Philbhoy—–
Both .
Sometimes disastrously —–
Eg —— missing the first half of the CL Qualifier at Ajax due to the steward being unwilling to admit me and a big plastic bag of just bought 45s from a second hand store near the Melkveg [ security ! ]—— I had to take it back to where I was staying and then taxi back to the stadium..
Leaving a pile of just bought second hand Blue Note Lp’s in a cafe in Torino , going to the game , remembering that I had bought some choons and then spending the game worrying about whether my choons were safe [ they were ].
My choon hunting record in Europe is way better than Celtic’s record in Europe.