Celtic vs CFR Cluj looks like being an even tougher clash for the Hoops now as Dan Petrescu rested his entire starting XI this weekend.
The Romanians didn’t leave a single player from the starting XI against Celtic on the pitch to kick-off against Hermannstadt yesterday. In scary fashion, however, Cluj still managed to win the game 3-0. The result keeps them top of the table with 13 points from five games.
Of course, the changes didn’t mean that nobody featured in both games last week. George Tucudean and Alexandru Paun both came on against the Hoops and started against Hermannstadt. Billel Omrani and Andrei Burca, meanwhile, started against Celtic but came on yesterday.
But it’s fair to say Petrescu made a massive overhaul ahead of the trip to Parkhead. The Cluj manager told DigiSport before the Hermannstadt game that he would look to bring in 11-13 fresh faces. He managed to do just that.
Celtic vs CFR Cluj should see a totally different team
Whether Petrescu just puts all 11 of the players who started the first-leg back into his team for Tuesday remains to be seen. But at the very least, the majority of them should return.
To put the mass changes into perspective, Neil Lennon only made four changes to his side for yesterday’s 5-2 rout of Motherwell. Yet still, you would consider our team to have been considerably rotated.
It’s a potentially dangerous game for Petrescu to play. The logic is clear – he hopes his side will be fresh and ready to have a go at Celtic on Tuesday night. But it’s robbed his players of some momentum.
The likes of Kristoffer Ajer, James Forrest, and Callum McGregor, for example, will go into this week on the crest of a wave. Confidence will be flying, and you would expect us to turn Cluj over at Parkhead.
So it remains an interesting decision from Petrescu. At the very least, his players will be well-rested. However, it now remains to be seen if they can keep up with Celtic’s considerable momentum.
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