Champions League – Celtic brilliantly placed at halfway stage

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The Celtic Star

·07 de novembro de 2024

Champions League – Celtic brilliantly placed at halfway stage

After the conclusion of four rounds of matches, Celtic currently sit 15th in the new revamped Champions League table…

Nicolas Kuhn celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Brendan Rodgers side have moved up six places as a result of their crucial 3-1 victory over German side RB Leipzig at an electric Celtic Park on Tuesday evening.

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Three more wins can guarantee a top eight finish

One more win is all that is required in order for the Scottish champions to qualify for the knockout play-off stages of Europe’s elite club competition.

And if you’re dreaming, like I am, and quite rightly so, three victories against either Club Brugge, Dinamo Zagreb, BSC Young Boys or Aston Villa would ensure guaranteed last 16 football and an incredible top eight finish. You would be foolish to write it off.

Marco Rose, Head Coach of RB Leipzig, comforts Benjamin Henrichs of RB Leipzig at the end of the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Meanwhile for Marco Rose’s Leipzig who currently sit second in the Bundesliga, the route to qualification looks extremely unlikely for the Germans. Zero points from four matches with a trip to the San Siro to face Inter Milan in three weeks time is ominous. Although, in fairness, Leipzig can feel relatively aggrieved by UEFA. Despite being a pot 1 side, they have been monumentally shafted with their fixtures.

There are three teams from pot 4 that occupy top eight spaces

Amazingly, there are three teams from pot 4 that occupy top eight spaces. They include AS Monaco who sit third on 10 points with their fellow Ligue 1 colleagues Brest just one place below them in fourth spot. Celtic’s final opponents of the elongated new format, Aston Villa, sit narrowly in eighth position on nine points.

UEFA Champions League Table at the half way point

In the Champions League, Brendan Rodgers side will now turn their attention to Belgian champions Club Brugge. They created history over matchday four as they defeated Unai Emery’s Aston Villa 1-0 becoming the first Brugge team to beat a British club since 1994. They will be astute opponents.

Dinamo Zagreb, like Celtic have recovered from a heavy defeat in Germany

For Dinamo Zagreb who the Hoops are keeping tabs on, they have completely rectified their Champions League campaign. Despite recording a record defeat in the opening match after suffering a humiliating 9-2 loss versus Bayern Munich, the Croatians are one position below Celtic in 16th. They too dismantled Slovan Bratislava, winning 4-1 in Slovakia on Tuesday evening.

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Auston Trusty celebrates at full time during the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Undoubtedly, the new format has been positive for Celtic. It is the first time Celtic have opened with two home victories in the Champions League since the 2007/2008 campaign where Gordon Strachan’s men won all three of their home matches in the competition that season. A realistic target for Celtic should be to aim for four consecutive wins in Glasgow’s East End.

The upcoming battle between Celtic and Club Brugge after the international break is the Hoops most significant game in Europe for a very long time. A place beyond the ‘group stage’ or ‘league phase’ waits for the first time since 2012/2013. A chance to play double digit matches in Europe’s elite club competition for the inaugural time would be in the offing if Celtic were to secure three points against Club Brugge.

Words don’t justify how big an occasion it will be.

Conor Spence