Celtic’s next Europa League fixture seems them take on a side that they are already familiar with. That team is Romanian champions Cluj, who knocked the Hoops out of the Champions League qualifiers earlier this season.
However, one man who feels that the Hoops can gain revenge over Cluj is former Hoops boss Davie Hay. He feels that Celtic have improved since the games between the teams back in August.
“My feeling is that Celtic will be out for revenge against Dan Petrescu’s team and will be looking to settle a score” Hay said, as reported by the Evening Times.
“A much better place”
“Celtic are just in a much better place now than they were when Cluj first came to Glasgow, particularly when it comes to the defence with the likes of Boli Bolingoli and Christopher Jullien getting up to speed now.”
“They are no mugs, but I think Celtic will be too strong and will put themselves in a really good position early on in this group” the former title winning manager concluded.
The mention of Bolingoli and Jullien is perhaps significant. Neither player featured in the 4-3 loss at Celtic Park which saw the Hoops exit the Champions League.
Hoops could be more solid in defence
If the duo had played, the Hoops may have been far more solid in defence than they were that night. As Hay says though, Celtic are in much better form than they were when they first took on Cluj this season.
The defence in particular has a solidity that it just didn’t have when the teams met earlier on this season. The Hoops are also scoring plenty of goals, they have scored 51 so far this season.
It is not hard to see why Hay thinks the Hoops will get revenge against Cluj. Obviously the team will need to perform well on the night. If they do though, Celtic are more than good enough to get the three points required.
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