Bosnian whistler Ifran Peljto will be the man in the middle for tomorrow night’s Champions League encounter between Atalanta and Celtic…
Doesn’t come much tougher than Atalanta away
Brendan Rodgers’ side meet the Europa League winners at the Gewiss Stadium for Champions League match number three of the campaign. The Hoops manager will be hoping for a much-improved away performance in Europe than the last outing earlier this month in Germany against Borussia Dortmund.
It does not come much tougher than facing the current Europa League title holders who have hit the ground running at the start of their campaign in Europe’s elite club competition.
Atalanta unlucky not to beat Arsenal
An opening match 0-0 draw with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal kickstarted the Champions League season for La Dea. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side were unfortunate not to pick up three points versus the Gunners after missing a penalty. Their admirable performance against Arsenal was followed up with an impressive 3-0 win over Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk meaning that the Italians sit 11th in the new look League format having accumulated four points after two games.
Celtic’s bad memories of Bosnian referee Ifran Peljto
Wednesday evening’s Bosnian referee Ifran Peljto will be accompanied by assistants Senad Ibrisimbegovic, Davor Beljo and fourth official Antoni Bandic. Mr Peljto was in charge of Celtic’s opening group stage defeat in Rotterdam last season.
Marred in controversy, the Bosnian whistler sent off Swedish defender Gustaf Lagerbielke which was subsequently followed by Odin Thiago Holm’s being shown red with the Hoops falling to a 2-0 loss at De Kuip to Arne Slot’s Feyenoord.
An almighty task for Celtic
Calvin Stengs and Alireza Jahanbaksh were on target for the current Dutch runners up over a year ago on another miserable night on the continent for Celtic.
Travelling back to Glasgow on Wednesday night having gained any points will be an almighty task. What Brendan Rodgers’ side cannot afford to do is be as ill-disciplined as they were when Ifran Peljto was in charge of their Champions League mach in September last year.
Conor Spence