Confirmed: Midtjylland's top striker Sory Kaba won't play against Celtic tonight

By David Walton

July 20, 2021

FC Midtjylland have confirmed that top striker Sory Kaba won’t feature against Celtic in their Europa League tie.

The Danish side submitted their squad to UEFA and it was yesterday published with Kaba’s name present. However, the club has confirmed on their official website today that Kaba won’t be part of the squad.

Celtic’s UCL second qualifying round rivals have announced all of the players who will take part. Kaba’s name didn’t feature after what’s been a fractured period for him under new boss Bo Henriksen.

Ekstra Bladet reported earlier this week that Kaba refused to play against OB in Midtjylland’s league opener. He also stormed out of a training session under the new manager, and he likely won’t play again until his attitude dramatically changes, Ekstra Bladet reports.

It means that Celtic are likely to come up against Junior Brumado at Parkhead this evening. The untested 21-year-old only has three goals in 41 Midtjylland appearances [Transfermarkt].

Sory Kaba not playing against Celtic is a massive blow for Henriksen

The relationship between Midtjylland and their top scorer looks absolutely toxic. It doesn’t look as though an end to the saga is in sight, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the player left during the summer.

When Midtjylland last played a Scottish side, Kaba was their main threat. He scored against Rangers in Denmark and was lively in Scotland too.

Of course, that’s not to say that Midtjylland don’t have threats elsewhere on the field. They’ll be looking for the tricky Pione Sisto to get the better of Anthony Ralston. Given Celtic’s weakness at right-back, it doesn’t bode well that the left-wing is where Midtjylland’s main threat is likely to occur.

Ange Postecoglou simply must stress the need for concentration from his centre-backs this evening also. Just because Brumado doesn’t have an impressive goal record, it doesn’t mean he can’t buck the trend tonight. We’ve been here before. And we hardly have a settled backline either.

But it shows that Midtjylland arrive in Scotland with problems of their own. They’ve lost their league opener, are currently in the process of rebuilding, and their star striker appears to be no longer willing to play for them.

Celtic must take confidence from that without also harvesting complacency. We’ll see what comes to the fore later on tonight.

In other news: Bo Henriksen kickstarts the mind games ahead of Celtic vs Midtjylland