Qualifiers, cash, mitigating fitness
Lots to consider after last night’s Champions League qualifiers. Top surprise of the night was Marseille being eliminated by Panathinaikos on penalties. The Greek side equalised in the 10th minute of added time at the Velodrome in what must have been a horrible way to lose for the home fans.
Should Panathinaikos reach the group stage at the expense of Braga, Celtic will earn an extra £900k in 10-year coefficient bonus. Unfortunately, Copenhagen (higher 10-year coefficient than Celtic) twice came from behind in extra time away to Sparta Prague to win through on penalties, with Larsson Jnr scoring a first minute opener for them. The Danes face Polish champions Rakow Czestochhowa in the playoffs. Rakow started the new season in mixed form, so I expect the Larssons to be celebrating.
AIK Athens continued a good night for Greek football winning away at Dinamo Zagreb. The second leg is scheduled for Saturday and a Dinamo elimination would also net Celtic around £900k. Dinamo were keen to retain Croatia international keeper Dominik Livakovic for the qualifiers, so that position could change early next week. Could be an interesting one.
This money all adds up for Celtic and shows the perils of Champions League qualification, where teams are caught early in their season’s preparation. 100 minutes into the game, it was no surprise that Marseille legs and minds were not up to the task.
Newco’s draw in Geneva earned them €5m plus takings from an additional home qualifier against PSV Eindhoven next week – huge money for a side that badly needs cash. Their season ahead of our visit to Ibrox on 3 September will be markedly different to ours until that point.
We will have played four competitive games, none against a team that has/will physically exert us. Newco will have played eight games, four of which are ideal preparation for facing Celtic. They are in Eindhoven four days before that Celtic game, with the possibility of elation or depression, as well as exertion.
There are clear negatives for Newco but after eight games they will be close to fully fit, whereas we are likely to still be finding our legs. That problem is hopefully something the backroom team can work on to mitigate. Not sure if this is a good or bad fixture mix.