Lille manager Christophe Galtier has typically predicted that key men Renato Sanches and Luiz Araujo should be fit for their trip to Celtic Park this week.
Celtic will host the Ligue 1 high-flyers in a Europa League dead-rubber with the Hoops having failed to win any of their five games in the group stage so far. It has been, in every sense, the group from hell.
However, for those who remember matchday two of the competition when Celtic got their only point of the group against Lille, there were two players who helped change the game. The introduction of both Araujo and Sanches upped the tempo for Lille after being introduced for the final 25 minutes or so.
And despite both men having been out of action in recent times, Galtier has admitted that they should return for the Glasgow date.
As quoted by butfootballclub, the Lille boss said: “We will see the evolution of the injury for Luiz. Luiz is a player who accelerates, a sprinter.
“We are trying to see if he will be available before Paris. Renato is a very explosive, very generous player. The context of a busy schedule means that there are a lot of injuries this season.
“This is what’s happening to all the teams this season. We have high hopes that they will both be present for the game against Celtic.”
A fixture we just need to power through
Let’s be frank – nobody is looking forward to this one. There’s nothing for Celtic to gain outside of a little bit of a profile boost and some cash earned from Europa League winnings.
But this game reflects the same build-up that most of our Europa games have had this season – a feeling of dread filling a fanbase that just wants the fixture over with and the scoreline to be merciful.
This should’ve been a game that we were all highly anticipating. When the Europa League groups were drawn, this home clash with Lille on matchday six was supposed to be the grand finale. A big occasion where, if we managed to win the game, could’ve seen us qualify. In reality, we’ve only picked up one point whilst it’s the French side who come into the game looking to top the group.
And the fact that Sanches and Araujo look set to return in time for it just about sums up how our Europa campaign has gone this season. Abysmally.
From a Celtic perspective, this just feels like a high-profile friendly now. With no fans, the game was going to be pretty lifeless in any case, but the fact there’s now nothing to play for makes it nothing more than an inconvenience.
Hopefully, we can at least come out the other side of it with a bit of respect to our name. God knows our reputation has taken a hammering already this season.
In other news, there was one aspect of the game yesterday that satisfied Celtic fans.
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