With Celtic set to embark on another Champions League adventure this month, the fans are hopeful that this could be the year that the Parkhead club make progress in the competition.
Celtic have been drawn against Leipzig (H), Dortmund (A), Club Brugge (H), Atalanta (A), Young Boys (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A), Slovan Bratislava (H), and Aston Villa (A) as Brendan Rodgers looks to get Celtic out of the league phase for the first time since 2013.
And whilst there are many tough teams within those fixtures, there are also many in there who Celtic will feel confident of getting a result from.
So with that in mind and with the opening game drawing ever close, 67 Hail Hail has decided to look at the current form of each team starting with Celtic’s first opponents, Slovan Bratislava.
Slovan Bratislava lead the way in Slovakia
Bratislava is currently sitting top of the Fortuna League in Slovakia with 12 points from five games. However, at the beginning of September, the league leaders suffered a heavy 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Zilina.
Just before the international break, Bratislava redeemed themselves with a 5-0 cup win over AC Nitra and to get to the Champions League group stage, they also defeated FC Midtjylland 4-3 on aggregate.
They have also scored 9 league goals in total and before the 5-0 defeat to Zilina, had conceded just two domestically.
Borussia Dortmund’s unbeaten start
Undoubtedly the toughest team in Celtic’s draw, Dortmund have started their season well enough. After just two games in the Bundesliga, Nuri Sahin’s side sit fourth after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 and following that up with a 0-0 away draw to Werder Bremen.
The German giants have also progressed in the DFB Cup with a comprehensive 4-1 away win over fourth-tier side FC Phönix Lübeck.
This weekend, Dortmund faces FC Heidenheim 1846 who recently defeated Arne Engels’ former side, Augsburg, 4-0.
Atalanta’s early season struggles
Last season’s Europa League winners, Atalanta are not enjoying the best start to their new season.
Losing the UEFA Super Cup to Real Madrid 2-0 is no disgrace but since then the Serie A side have beaten Lecce 4-0 away and suffered two defeats to the hands to Torino (2-1) and a heavy 4-0 loss to Inter Milan at the San Siro just before the international break.
Although it is early days yet, Atalanta currently sits 12th in Serie A.
RB Leipzig’s impressive start to the season
RB Leipzig have enjoyed a rather impressive start to their season.
The German club currently sit second in the Bundesliga with two wins from their first two opening games. A 1-0 home win against Bochum was followed up by an impressive 3-2 away win against Jeremie Frimpong’s Bayer Leverkusen.
Like Dortmund, Leipzig also progressed in the DFB Cup with a 4-1 away win to thiird-tier side Rot-Weiss Essen.
Club Brugge’s inconsistent form
Club Brugge have an inconsistent start to their season. Sitting fourth in the Belgian Pro League, they have lost two out of their first six fixtures scoring nine and conceding six.
An opening day 1-1 draw with Mechelen was followed up by defeats to Standard Liege and Genk.
However, since then Brugge have recorded back to back wins against Royal Antwerp and Dender and they also beat Cercle Brugge 3-0 just before the international break to get their season back on track.
Dinamo Zagreb’s unbeaten league form
Dinamo Zagreb have enjoyed an excellent start to their season sitting on top spot in the Croatian Football League with five wins out of six.
Unbeaten, Zagreb have won four and drawn one with their highest win of the season being an opening day 5-0 win over Istra.
To qualify for the Champions League, Zagreb easily dispatched Qarabag 5-0 on aggregate. It should be noted that the Croatian side have scored 18 goals in total and conceded just three.
Young Boys are in serious trouble
Reigning Swiss champions, Young Boys are is serious trouble this sitting as they sit bottom of their league with no wins out of their first six fixtures.
Three defeats and two draws leave them propping up the Swiss Super League and thye have conceded seven goals in their last two league defeats to Servette and St Gallen.
However, Young Boys did knock out Turkish giants Galatasaray 4-2 on aggregate to qualify for the league phase and have also recorded a 10-0 win in the Schweizer Cup against second-tier Printse-Nendaz.
Aston Villa’s decent Premier League start
Last but not least, Aston Villa have enjoyed a decent start to the English Premier League with two wins and a defeat so far.
An opening day 2-1 away win to West Ham was followed up by a 2-0 home defeat to Arsenal. However, just before the international break, Villa got back to winning ways with a 2-1 away win to newly promoted Leicester City as Unai Emery looks to build on last season’s success.
So whilst there are reasons for Celtic to be optimistic about progressing in the competition, not one of these teams can be talked for granted.
Because as we have shown here, whether their form is good, bad or indifferent, each of Celtic’s opponents are capable of a big result or two regardless of their current form.
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