Germany to broadcast Celtic vs Bayer Leverkusen on free-to-air TV station

By David Walton

September 27, 2021

The football fans in Germany will be in for a treat on Thursday night as they have the opportunity to watch the unique atmosphere at Celtic Park for absolutely nothing.

Celtic will face Bayer Leverkusen in their second Europa League match of the group stage. It comes after a disappointing opening 4-3 defeat to Real Betis in Spain.

UK and Ireland-based Celtic fans who want to watch the match will have to do so via BT Sport. However, the situation is a bit different over in Germany.

Free-to-air channel RTL have acquired the rights to show the Europa League this season. This means that the game between the Hoops and Bayer will be broadcast on every German TV for absolutely nothing [Teleboy].

This will likely mean a vastly improved audience than if the game was on the likes of DAZN. And it also means supporters in Germany will get to see the unique Celtic Park atmosphere.

Leverkusen come into the match having won their opening group match against Ferencvaros 2-1.

Celtic must avoid letting themselves down against Bayer Leverkusen

So Celtic can expect some booster ratings when it comes to those who’ll be watching them in action on Thursday night.

All the more reason then for us to show the best side of the football club. It’s important we don’t allow our European reputation to be battered further. Some good work has been done this term in beating AZ Alkmaar and showing up well in Betis. But there’s still plenty of work to be done.

The last thing we need to do is to undo the good work that’s currently going on with our European reputation. Showing up well against Leverkusen would be another step in the right direction.

Granted, there are bigger concerns for Celtic at the moment. The Premiership title race continues to be the most important aspect of the season for us. Given how poorly we’ve started domestically, many will view this game as an unnecessary distraction.

But regardless, it’s something Celtic need to fight through. A positive result against the Bundesliga heavyweights would restore massive confidence to both the players and the supporters. Perhaps even the manager.

So it’s a big night for the Hoops even if there are more pressing matters. Hopefully, we show the competitive side to this Celtic team that we all know is there.

In other news, Dundee Utd boss Tam Courts clearly unhappy with Celtic Park penalty incident