Celtic could be in line to face Slavia Prague in the final round of Champions League qualification.
The Czech champions lie in wait for Neil Lennon’s men if they can see off CFR Cluj over the next eight days or so. If Celtic are to face Slavia then it will be the first competitive meetings between the sides.
However, the clubs do have some recent history. In 2017, Brendan Rodgers took his side to the Sinobo Stadium for a pre-season friendly against the Czechs. The match finished 0-0 but it was far from a timid affair, with a number of robust challenges making it seem like more of a competitive clash than a bounce game.
Rodgers felt the need to comment on Slavia’s approach when doing his post match duties with Celtic TV.
He said: “There were a few challenges when they were nipping at the heels of our players.
“Our players showed real discipline, even in a friendly game, to not react.”
Celtic vs Slavia could be a tasty tie
Dedryck Boyata was one of the Celtic men to go off injured that day. He may no longer be at the club, but it will be interesting to see if any of the other players remember that bruising encounter.
It promises to be a tough task for Celtic to make it to the hallowed group stage of the Champions League. We’ve had it relatively easy in the first two rounds of qualifying but it looks like things are about to go up a notch.
We’ll be favourites for the tie against Cluj but nothing is a given against a side who have already knocked out Astana and Maccabi Tel Aviv. If we can see them off then things will go up another notch against Slavia.
The Czech outfit reached the last eight of the Europa League last season. Celtic fans know first hand how difficult the knockout stages of that competition are so they’ll realise that Slavia are a good side.
But if we do get past Cluj then we’ll be full of confidence and will fancy our chances.
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