Celtic weren’t the only side to claim a brilliant result on Champions League duty this week as the league phase remains wide open at the halfway point.
After the Bhoys disposed of Leipzig at Parkhead, they now sit on seven points from their opening four encounters, above Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain among others.
Ultimately, the complexion of the Champions League table at this point is unlikely to define where the standings sit come matchday eight; several elite-level sides still have favourable matches to play against lower-seeded opposition.
Brendan Rodgers has his side in a good place, with supporters gaining an unwavering belief that their side can pick up more points, catalysed by results against Slovan Bratislava, Atalanta and Leipzig.
The reigning Scottish Premiership champions are in fine fettle, but they will be careful not to get too carried away amid recent developments elsewhere.
Club Brugge show mettle in Aston Villa victory
With last night’s fixtures creating a few headlines, Club Brugge’s 1-0 triumph over Aston Villa was notable for several reasons as the Belgian Pro League side moved into 22nd place in the Champions League table.
In one of the most bizarre penalty awards football has seen for a number of years, Tyrone Mings inexplicably placed his hand on the ball after a pass out from Emiliano Martinez, leading Hans Vanaken to do the honours from the spot.
Per stat-trackers Fotmob, Club Brugge were value for their win, creating 1.38 Expected Goals to Aston Villa’s 0.42. They also had more shots on goal across proceedings and fashioned the same amount of ‘big chances’ on the night.
Nicky Hayen’s men are also second in the Belgian top flight with 24 points from 13 matches, sitting seven points behind league leaders Genk.
Club Brugge should not be taken lightly at Celtic Park
In many ways, Celtic’s upward trajectory in the Champions League mirrors Brugge’s run to the last 16 of the competition in 2022/23, where they finished above the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid in the old group stage format.
Becoming a more experienced outfit on the elite stage, the Belgian Pro League holders also reached the semi-final of the Europa Conference League last season. Hence, they are definitely not a team to take lightly at Parkhead.
The Bhoys will fancy their chances of edging the contest, but anyone who can beat European football specialist Unai Emery is worth giving respect.
Nevertheless, Celtic are in a brilliant position at the halfway point of the league phase and have saw off better sides on home territory over the years, so hopefully, another momentous result lies in wait.
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