Latvia likely destination for Celtic

It will be off to Latvia to face Riga or, assuming they do not unexpectedly lose at home in the second round to Tre Fiori from San Marino.  Riga lost their first round Champions League match away to Maccabi Tel-Aviv and went out at the same stage a year ago to Dundalk on penalties, before losing their Europa League play-off tie 3-2 on aggregate to Copenhagen, who went on to eliminate Celtic by a greater margin.

It is a tie we will win if we get everything right and will lose if there is anything remotely half-arsed going on.  Riga are 17 games into their domestic season; be prepared, Celtic.

Watching the goals this morning from the 0-2 win at Ibrox a year ago today brought a reminder of where we were the morning of that game.  Facing the perennial Summer Cup Champions [no, it’s not wartime] at their own place, having been turfed out of the Champions League by Cluj, we faced the longest odds for a league win in seven years.

That setup what may be become a fourth consecutive treble.  Cluj hurt the bank balance but European credentials were restored with wins over Lazio and Rennes.  We could do with a big game, a bit win, now.