Celtic face Bayer Leverkusen tonight in Matchday 2 of the Europa League. Ange Postecoglou’s side lost 4-3 to Real Betis on the opening day in Seville whilst the Bundesliga side picked up a 2-1 victory on the at home to Ferencvaros. Now, all eyes will be on Celtic Park as Postecoglou’s injury ravaged team looks to take a major scalp.
Leverkusen are second in the German top flight and travel to Glasgow with hopes of a win amidst the backdrop of Paradise under the lights. Celtic have hit hard by injuries lately but hopefully, the crowd and the conditions can help secure a home win. Celtic are without a number of players. Kyogo, Callum McGregor and Giakoumakis trained but they are still doubts. James McCarthy was forced from the pitch at he weekend but he has passed fit and is ready to go.
Team News
Josip Juranovic will be out for a few weeks after a hamstring concern in the weekend’s draw with Dundee United. This leaves the manager with a headache given Greg Taylor is injured. Bolingoli isn’t registered leaving Liam Scales and Adam Montgomery as his options down the left.
Christopher Jullien remains out, along with James Forrest and Mikey Johnston. Callum McGregor, Kyogo and even Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis could feature in the squad with the two forwards likely to be on the bench. There is more chance that the captain Callum McGregor could play for perhaps an hour, although Ange Postecoglou will be mindful that there’s a huge game on Sunday up at Pittodrie.
Kick-off Time
The game kicks off at 8pm (Celtic Park Time). The game is heading towards a sell-out as there are only a limited number of tickets available in section 119 for those still looking to get a ticket.
UPDATE – Standard Tickets Now Sold Out!
Where to watch
The game will be on BT Sport, commencing after theRangers play in Prague. It will available as usual on Celtic TV for fans living outside of Britain and Ireland.
The support
There is some confidence kicking around the support ahead of the game but that is tempered with a realisation that Ange has a huge job on his hands, the rebuild is still in the early stages and his squad is hammered by these terrible injury problems.