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Peter Green - July 16, 2019
Celtic vs FK Sarajevo
Champions League Qualification
Date: Wednesday, 17 July 2019
Kick-off at 19:45 UK/ 20:45 CET
Venue: Celtic Park (Glasgow).
The undisputed champions of Scotland have already made a mark for themselves at the start of their European campaign itself. Against their opposite number from Bosnia, they scripted an inspiring comeback win, and that too on the road, in the first leg.
Sarajevo thought they had the tie in the bag when they netted the first goal of the game in the 30th minute. But sure enough, their joy was short-lived. The visitors brought parity to the scoreline within five minutes and later added two more, to take control of the two-legged match-up.
The outright favorites for this match are the hosts of the day. They already lead in aggregate by a scorecard of 3-1 and keep in mind that all three are away goals. This translates to – even if the Scots lose 0-2 this Wednesday, they will be progressing to the next round.
This forces the Bosnians to attack right from the beginning, against the well-oiled Celtic defense, while keeping their in-form offense at bay. A tough task for any team in the world, let alone someone who’s currently struggling on the road.
Sarajevo was winless in five of their last six away ties and lost four of them as well. They also failed to score in three of their last five road trips, while their counterparts were unbeaten in 19 of their last 20 games, and in 18 of their last 20 in front of the home crowd. Also consider that Celtic had separate five-game, and eight-game winning streaks during this stretch at this venue.
By all means, expect a comfortable win for them.
