Brendan Rodgers has named his first Celtic Europa League side of the season.
The Hoops are in Belgrade to face Red Star, the reigning champions of the Serbian Superliga.
It’s expected to be a tight affair. Despite having a perfect domestic campaign so far, the Serbians suffered the same Champions League fate as Celtic, falling in the qualifiers to Cypriot side Pafos.
It is their first meeting with Celtic since 1968, when Jock Stein’s Hoops hammered them 6-2 in a two-legged European Cup tie.
A similar scoreline would do nicely for Rodgers’ side tonight – he has now named his starting eleven and subs in Belgrade.
Brendan Rodgers names Celtic side to face Red Star Belgrade
Colby Donovan, Kieran Tierney and Kelechi Iheanacho were among the main players for whom Rodgers had to make big calls for tonight’s match.
Celtic’s Starting XI: Schmeichel; Donovan, Carter-Vickers, Scales, Tierney; McGregor, Hatate, Nygren; Yang, Tounekti, Maeda.
Celtic subs: Sinisalo, Doohan, Balikwisha, McCowan, Iheanacho, Kenny, Engels, Bernardo, Saracchi, Murray, Forrest, Ralston.
Iheanacho has to settle for the bench, so it’s a huge night in store for Yang. It’s also nice to see the side’s bench looking stronger.
Rodgers will be hoping to see his side deliver a performance worthy of silencing a famously passionate home crowd in the Serbian capital.
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic full-back calls
Marcelo Saracchi and Tierney were both in contention to start tonight, the former impressing in his last appearance against Kilmarnock.
Despite playing 90 minutes just three days ago, Tierney is in from the start again, showing that he is clearly the first choice.
As for Donovan, the Hoops boss has been clear that he trusts the teenager enough to throw him in for a first start at this level.
It remains to be seen if he can put in a performance worthy of his run of appearances continuing.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
