Midtjylland, Danes again for Celtic

Celtic face Danish runners-up Midtjylland in the Champions League qualification round 2, with the first leg played at Celtic Park five weeks from now.  While there is an enormous amount of work for Ange Postecoglou and Dom McKay to turn the current squad into a force to be reckoned with between now and then, this is a decent draw.

Midtjylland disintegrated in May.  They won one, drew one and lost two of their final four games to blow the league title by a point.  Manager, Bo Henriksen, has been in the Midtjylland job just a week longer than Ange has been Celtic boss, so like us, they are very much a team in transition.

Unlike Sweden, Denmark do not play through the summer.  Danish football has a short, seven-week, break from May to July.  The new season starts the weekend before Midtjylland travel to Glasgow.  On paper, this puts them ahead of us but I doubt that seven-week window allows them to return to training much ahead of Celtic’s return next week.

Having done what looked like the hard work against then Danish champions, Copenhagen, in a Europa League away leg in February last year, Celtic capitulated at home, further exposing some of the wounds that would cost us dearly last season.  Copenhagen exited the tournament at the quarterfinal stage, where they lost a one-off tie to Manchester United by a single goal.  This was an opportunity a better Celtic team would have made more of.

Lots to do but this is one we should rise to the occasion for.