Preview | Omonia v Celta: Europe to rebuild confidence | OneFootball

The Vigo side is making its Europa League debut for the second season in a row, once again with the goal of claiming its first win of the campaign

It seems that Celta is living through a cyclical process. Tomorrow at 18:45 the sky-blue side begins its European campaign, with a match that on paper looks straightforward but has picked up complications that could lead to an upset. To a 5-hour trip, the longest so far in the "Giráldez era," must be added the wonder of scheduling, which leaves the Galicians facing their second game in 6 days with only "one training session," as the coach said in his press conference.

The similarities with last season are becoming increasingly clear. In that opening game in Stuttgart, Celta had still not won a single match all season. The 2-1 defeat deepened a crisis that worsened at the weekend against Elche, where they lost again thanks to another Borja Iglesias goal. Now they arrive in a similar situation, although Claudio is trying to calm the waters with what happened afterward and with some aspects that have improved compared to last season, especially defensively.

Even so, what concerns Celta is the attacking side of things. They are creating and scoring much less than last season, which is obviously hurting the team’s results, since for Claudio"the bad luck of not being able to turn good spells into goals has punished us too heavily in the less favorable moments". Hence Europe could be an "oasis," that turning point for the team which, although it will return to Balaídos on Saturday tired and facing a difficult opponent like Racing, can at least regain confidence.

For the European opener, Giráldez is waiting until tomorrow to know which 23 players he will have available. In the squad list released by the club were the 3 players who missed the match against Málaga due to discomfort: Borja Iglesias, Aleix Febas and Jones El-Abdellaoui, although the big absence is Iago Aspas. The player from Moaña will not be able to make his debut with the team in his final season in sky blue due to a muscle tear in the rectus femoris of his left thigh. His absence is deeply felt because of everything he represents and because a large part of his minutes last season came in Europe, leading to more rotation than expected. Although Claudio did not admit it, the most likely scenario is a change in goal and for Altay Bayïndir to make his debut between the posts for the Vigo side, as he was signed to provide a reliable backup to Andrei Radu, who could be rested for Saturday’s match against Racing.

Celta is obliged to take all 3 points against Omonia. The Cypriot side stands out for being strong when sitting deep and for counterattacking with the pace of its wingers. There are many parallels with last year’s match against Ludogorets in Razgrad, where the sky-blue side went in as favorites, fielded a lineup more like one they would use in the Copa del Rey, and ended up losing. And to add a little more fear, the referee from that day, Hungarian official Balázs Berke, will take charge of today’s clash at 18:45. The pressure is real, as the European schedule will be difficult and will then be followed by a run of matches against opponents of European caliber, such as Juventus, Celtic in Glasgow, Bournemouth, and Marseille at the Vélodrome.

Winning will be a must for Celta, who will look to begin their Europa League campaign with the duty of taking all 3 points and putting in a performance that helps restore lost confidence. Tomorrow’s is a potential trap of a match. It must be approached that way and serve as the statement win the team needs to finally get its new season underway.

Probable lineups

Omonia: Fabiano; Duverne, Satka, Coulibaly, Balkovec; Maric, Andreou; Mayabela, Tankovic, Montnor; Diony

Celta: Bayïndir; Javi Rodríguez, Starfelt, Faye; Álvaro Núñez, Hugo Burcio, Miguel Román, Javi Galán; Hugo Álvarez, Swedberg; Pablo Durán

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.