Three things Celtic must do to avoid repeat of Cluj catastrophe

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Celtic have the chance to get revenge against Cluj when the teams meet for the third time this season in the Europa League group stage on Thursday night.

After the 4-3 loss to Cluj in August in the Champions League qualifiers, few would have thought that the Hoops would have the chance to get revenge against the team who they lost to in such dramatic fashion.

However, now Celtic do have the chance to defeat the Romanian champions for the first time this season at Celtic Park. That will depend on a few things though.

Here are three things Celtic must do to make sure they avoid another European catastrophe against Cluj:

SCORE THE FIRST GOAL

This may seem obvious, but it would be a big boost to the Hoops if they opened the scoring at Celtic Park. They haven’t been able to do that in the prior two meetings with Cluj this season. Opening the scoring would get the crowd behind Celtic, and also put Cluj on the back foot. It would be interesting to see how they responded to the pressure of the situation.

DON’T PLAY PLAYERS OUT OF POSITION

Possibly the most important lesson to learn from the 4-3 loss to Cluj. Neil Lennon’s decision to play Callum McGregor at left-back backfired spectacularly. Thankfully, it is not an experiment that has been repeated by the Hoops boss since the loss to Cluj. There is no need for the Celtic manager to overthink the situation. Play the players in their correct positions and the Hoops can reap the rewards.

SELECT THE STRONGEST MIDFIELD

The Hoops didn’t get the midfield balance correct in the recent game against Hibs, and it cost them, as Celtic were held to a 1-1 draw. To avoid a repeat of that, the Hoops need to play their strongest midfield. At this moment, that may mean Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham, with Ryan Christie playing ahead of them. That trio would allow the Hoops to get control of the midfield area which could define the match.