Even the most optimistic Celtic fan may admit that it’s going to be a tall order for the team to come away with anything from Thursday’s meeting with Lazio in Rome.
Neil Lennon’s men may be four points ahead of the Serie A outfit in Europa League Group E but the reality is that there’s very little between the sides. That was shown in spades in last month’s Glasgow meeting in which either side could conceivably have taken the three points.
Celtic have never won in Italy, and Lazio have hit their stride in recent weeks. But there’s always hope for the Celtic faithful to cling on to. Victory should assure us a last 32 berth. Here’s three reasons why that is a possible outcome.
The big Celtic support
The Bhoys are likely to be backed by around 9,000 fans in the Stadio Olimpico. That number could outweigh the home support on the night, according to the Daily Record.
Lazio may play in the iconic 70,000 arena but their fans don’t seem to take too much to do with the Europa League. The Italians had just over 13,000 at their home game against Rennes earlier this season (worldfootball.net) and that was with a healthy enough away support.
The Celtic players will have nothing to fear from the atmosphere in Rome. It will be a bizarre experience for many of them but one that definitely beats going into a hostile environment. That may help us on the night.
Lazio were far from convincing against Rennes
Simone Inzaghi’s side hardly swept the group’s bottom side Rennes away in the aforementioned home match. They looked to be heading for disaster when Jeremy Morel put the visitors ahead before a couple of quickfire goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile.
Rennes’ other group results show that they are no great shakes. We outplayed them for long parts of the game in Brittany and could have come away with more than a point – while Cluj did just that.
If Lazio could only just squeeze past them at home then it tells us that there’s not a great deal to fear.
We’ve already beaten them
In previous years, mentality has been such an issue for this Celtic team in Europe. Brendan Rodgers built a terrific team in domestic terms but they always seemed to come up short in Europe due to the way they were wired.
We went into many tough away games already beaten and felt the consequences as a result. However, this Celtic team know there is nothing to be fearful of against Lazio.
We’ve already beaten them and proven we are more than a match for them. Going out with that mindset may be another big aid to the players.
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