The heat is going to be on the Celtic players on Wednesday night.
After a short break, the final two games of the Champions League group phase will conclude, with Celtic hosting Young Boys at Parkhead.
It’s pretty simple, it’s a must-win if Brendan Rodgers wants to progress into a two-legged play-off, where the winner of that tie will reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
Theoretically, Celtic could lose their remaining two matches – at home to Young Boys and then away to Aston Villa – and still finish in the play-off places – those who finish between ninth and 24th will secure those spots, with the top eight going through to the last 16 automatically and the rest going home.
But other teams around the Glasgow giants will need to provide a serious helping hand, and let’s be honest, that isn’t happening to the extent fans would like.
Either way, the Bhoys don’t want to be making the trip to the Midlands on January 29 needing something to book a play-off spot because Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are going to be a painful test.
What is Celtic’s Champions League standing and points heading into match week seven?
The last time the Hoops were in Champions League action was on December 10 when they recorded a bore draw against Dinamo Zagreb.
Since Celtic’s drubbing in Dortmund, Rodgers has guided the team to back-to-back clean sheets on the road, which is a plus, even though fans were frustrated with the performance in Croatia’s capital.
Either way, that put the champions of Scotland on nine points from seven matches, sitting in 21st place, two points above the drop zone, which is currently occupied by the French champions, Paris Saint-Germain.
Notable Champions League games Celtic fans should watch out for
It would be handy if Celtic beat Young Boys and their play-off spot – ahead of the Villa match – is all but confirmed.
But they may need other results to go their way and that’s where eyes will be on certain matches.
There are six fixtures that Celtic fans need to watch out for on match week seven, including Manchester City’s away clash at PSG.
Amazingly enough, both teams are below Rodgers’ side in the table and face the prospect of getting knocked out altogether.
Thankfully, for the Bhoys, any type of result suits them because someone, somewhere is going to drop points.
- Slovan Bratislava v VfB Stuttgart (26th place), Tuesday, 21st January, 8pm
- FK Crvena zvezda v PSV Eindhoven (23rd place), Tuesday, 21st January, 8pm
- Shakhtar Donetsk (27th place) v Brest, Wednesday, 22nd January, 5:45 pm
- Arsenal v GNK Dinamo Zagreb (24th place), Wednesday, 22nd January, 8pm
- PSG (25th place) v Manchester City (22nd place), Wednesday, 22nd January, 8pm
- AC Sparta Praha (28th place) v Inter, Wednesday, 22nd January, 8pm
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