It’s not often Celtic has much luck in Monte Carlo, so we’ll take it

The Champions League draw has been rather kind to us it has to be said. As always there are some very tasty and tough ties, but I think everyone will have to agree that it’s a decent hand we’ve been dealt in the plush surroundings of Monte Carlo…

Italy’s former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon shows the paper slip of Celtic (SCO) during the group stage of the 2024-2025 UEFA Champions League football tournament, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 29, 2024.  (Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)

Going into the draw we were boosted by the news that Arne Engles is about to become our record signing after the club agreed an £11 million deal with FC Augsburg. The mood lifted even further when we discovered our fate in European football’s biggest competition even if it did take a few moments to work out our destiny due to the complexity of the new format.

Dortmund away will be a tough game, but a great away day for the supporters. One that many of us have been keen to experience for a long time. Atalanta way is going to very very tough as the Europa league winners need no introduction. A game against the Italians could prove to be the toughest of the lot.

READ THIS…Alex Valle’s Champions League optimism as Celtic get favourable draw

We also have a ‘Battle of Britain’ fixture as we travel to Birmingham to take on a more than decent Aston Villa side, not to mention a tricky away trip to Dynamo Zagreb. So despite the draw being kind to us, there is still some tough fixtures to negotiate.

But we have avoided all the heavy weight sides in the Champions League draw, if you had to pick your top ten toughest teams to play in AI hat ahead of the yesterday then Celtic have avoided the lot.  That’s as good a result as we could have hoped for, even if we did get the toughest task from pot four.

All our home ties are winnable. That’s not up for debate. familiar foes RB Leipzig will undoubtedly present us with our toughest home fixture, but one that is entirely winnable under the lights at Celtic Park.

READ THIS…Celtic’s Champions League Challengers – Eddie Murray’s Quick-ish Guide

Club Brugge, Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava make up the rest of our home ties and three points is very achievable against all these sides who are on the similar level as ourselves quality wise.

So it has to be said that yesterday was a decent day all round! Let’s hope today is even better than Sunday tops the lot!

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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