The draw of a lifetime

Our Champions League rivals have had a very mixed few days.  Tuesday’s opponents Borussia Dortmund were thrashed 5-1 on Sunday by Stuttgart.  That’s a painful one for last season’s Champions League finalists, who face Bochum on Friday.

Last night Atalanta lost at home to Como, giving the visitors their first win of the season, showing the Europa League holders are far from invincible.  We face them in Italy in four weeks.

Leipzig gave St Pauli their only point of the season in a 0-0 draw on Sunday.  St Pauli had only 30% possession but interestingly had the lion’s share of chances.  There is a method of getting to Leipzig.

The roof fell in on Brugge, who lost 2-4 at home to Gent on Sunday.  As with Leipzig, Brugge enjoyed 70% possession, they even had an incredible 80% of chances in the game, but lost four goals to a Gent side who only had three shots on target (assisted by an own goal).

Gent are above Brugge in the table, so that split between chances and goals is more likely to be a strategic determination by Gent than a random result.  As with Leipzig, there is a way to get at Brugge.

Dinamo Zagreb lost 4-1 at bottom club Slaven Belupo on Saturday.  Slaven remain bottom of the table despite that win.

Young Boys got their first win in seven league games this season at bottom side Winterthur.  which sees them rise to 9^th.  We don’t face the Swiss champions until 22 January, lots can change between now and then.

Our only opponents who seem to be motoring with any consistency are Aston Villa, who beat Wolves on Saturday, won at Wycombe in the League Cup last night and sit a point behind Manchester City in the EPL.

This could be the best Champions League draw Celtic get in our lifetimes.  I fully expect a near-impossible playoff opponent next season, so let’s make the most of this one.

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