Erik Sviatchenko, who featured last night for FC Midtjylland against Celtic, has thanked the Bhoys’ support.
After an exciting 1-1 draw at Paradise, the Danish defender who spent 2 years at Celtic reflected on his welcome from the home crowd. 9,000 supporters were in attendance for the Champions League qualifier.
Still a popular figure amongst supporters, Sviatchenko had been linked with a return to playing in the Hoops [Daily Record]. With the Bhoys needing reinforcements at centre-back, fans aren’t unanimously against the idea of Big Erik making a Celtic return.
That hasn’t manifested so far, though, and Sviatchenko remains the FC Midtjylland captain. With Celtic hoping to build on an impressive performance, the current Midtjylland man will need to retain his focus against his old side.
For now though, he’s rightly dwelling on an excellent reception from his former supporters.
The ex-Celtic man posted on Twitter:
What a game it was, too. Celtic opened the scoring through the excellent Liel Abada, before Nir Bitton received a second yellow for poking Anders Dreyer’s face after the Dane dove to attempt to win a penalty.
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Midtjylland would equalise through our old foe, the set piece, with Evandro striking past the flailing Vasilis Barkas from a tight angle. The teams would end up 10-a-piece, with Dreyer receiving his own second booking for simulation.
No, Erik Sviatchenko isn’t hinting at a Celtic return
Is Erik Sviatchenko hinting at a Celtic comeback? As far as we see it, no.
Under a new boss in the form of Bo Henriksen, the mid-Jutland side are retooling after a difficult 20-21 season. According to former Celtic defender Marc Rieper [Celtic FC]:
“…Midtjylland will have been very disappointed not to have won the Danish league last season. They were well ahead on several occasions but lost on the last day to Brondby.
“Last year, I think they had the best side in Denmark by a mile but they just seemed to slip up every time the others slipped up too.
“They should have won it comfortably with the team they have, players with international experience all over the park.”
To a leader like Sviatchenko, that sounds like a challenge to go one better than second this season. Midtjylland have also lost key players, like Frank Onyeka [Sky Sports]. It seems, in terms of outgoings, that their business is finished for the meantime.