GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is sen at full time during the SPL | Premier League match between Celtic FC and Heart of Midlothian FC at Celtic Park on September 14, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Celtic fans will be excited to hear the famous Champions League anthem when their side face Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday night in front of a raucous home crowd.
The scene of many famous nights against the cream of the crop, Celtic Park usually goes up a few decibel levels when the finest sides in Europe come to town.
In midweek, Celtic are faced with a slightly different prospect in Slovan Bratislava, who are a bit of an unknown quantity as they compete in the competition for the first time in their history.
Navigating their way past Struga, Celje, APOEL and FC Midtjylland in qualifying, Vladimir Weiss’s side won’t be pushovers. They have won 11 of their opening 15 matches this term, with the sole outlier being a heavy home defeat to MSK Zilina.
Nevertheless, Callum McGregor has already explained why Celtic plenty of belief to work with ahead of their first bout in the Swiss-style Champions League format.
Callum McGregor has already highlighted Celtic optimism
Speaking last month, McGregor pointed to Celtic’s win over Feyenoord in their last group stage last year as something that has given the Bhoys a ‘shot in the arm’ as they aim to improve on last year’s performance in the tournament.
He said: “I’ll be a new format for everyone, (everyone will be) excited, but I think even if we were continuing with the old format, I think the win against Feyenoord at the end of the campaign in the last one, that’s probably given the boys a big shot in the arm because for so long, it was glorious failure.
You’re doing well in games; you lose a goal in the last minute to Lazio, the Atletico Madrid game finishes 2-2 when you do enough to probably win the game, so I actually think probably just that game on its own has been enough to give the boys the energy and the belief that we’re good enough.
We’ve almost got the result there; we’ve now got over the line, we know what it looks like on a Champions League night, so I think that more than anything, but for sure, the new format will change things slightly as well.”
Celtic Park needs to be a fortress if progression is to be viable
Most Celtic fans would be happy with a place in the knockout playoff phase if push came to shove. Liam Scales has a similar mindset, stating that home matches will be vital to get points on the board to secure progression.
Considering the victory over Feyenoord, the Bhoys could give themselves scope to go on a run at Celtic Park if they beat Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.
Two victories on the trot in the Champions League at home would be impressive. With matches against RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Young Boys still to come, points are there to be claimed, which could help to boost Celtic’s credibility on the continent after a few years where they have struggled for results.
Nevertheless, performances on the pitch will need to match the application that has been applied to their opening domestic showings. Should Brendan Rodgers manage to get that from his side, Celtic have every chance of putting up a compelling argument of prolonging their stay in the competition.
