Celtic’s opponents in the 2nd qualifying round on Wednesday night are Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.
It would appear the Budapest side’s ambitions lie well beyond a league they have dominated to the tune of 31 league titles. The appointment of legendary Ukrainian striker Sergei Rebrov is testament to the fact the club owners very much wish to have their profile raised beyond the confines of their borders. Indeed, a reported £2.5 million bonus will be all the incentive Rebrov needs to find a way past Celtic in Glasgow.
Considering Rebrov has previously taken Ukrainian’s Dinamo Kiev to the last 16 of the Champions League despite operating in a league dominated by Shakhtar Donetsk tell us all about the coach’s abilities to prepare a team for the biggest stage and why the Hungarian clubs owners felt weighting a salary in favour of European incentivisation made perfect sense.
Last season Ferencvaros exited the champions league at the same time as Celtic, the third qualifying round. Prior to facing Dinamo Zagreb in that round, the Hungarians won 2-1 against 9- in- a- row Bulgarian champions Ludogorets in what was a very tough opening qualifier with goals from Tokmac and Oleksandr Zubkov. In the away leg they scored twice in the opening 20 minutes before going on to win 5-3 on aggregate.
This was followed by a second-round qualifier against Maltese champions Valletta. In a game against a far easier opponent than the first round Ferencvaros took a 3-1 lead to Malta and finished the tie with a 1-1 draw. Despite going behind midway through the first half to a Valletta penalty Tokmac scored for the second round running.
The bridge too far last season came against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb. Heading away from home Ferencvaros went behind early in the game but performed superbly in the second half to equalise through Siger and hold on for a superb 1-1 draw.
A clean sheet would have been enough to see Ferencvaros home and dry in the second leg in Budapest, instead they capitulated and lost 4-0 on home soil and parachuted into the Europa League final qualifying round. A fast-starting performance that Neil Lennon’s side should be aware of ahead of Wednesday’s game.
Ferencvaros qualified for the group stages but were made to sweat somewhat for their place. Lithuanian side Suduva stood in their way and after securing a goalless draw on their travels Ferencvaros returned to Budapest assuming they’d qualify with ease.
Instead they went behind to an early goal and the home crowd nerves were jangling. An own goal and a strike from striker Franck Boli appeared to settle them but the Lithuanians weren’t for going down without a fight and equalised through Topcagic to have the game level at 2-2 and had Ferencvaros heading out on away goals. The Hungarians showed a level of resilience they were to exhibit in the group stages however and fought back. Tokmac again put Ferencvaros in front only three minutes after conceding and then an injury time penalty from Signevich put them into the draw for the group stages.
Drawn in Group H with Ludogorets (again) as well as Espanyol and CSKA Moscow it would be fair to say most people didn’t give the Hungarians much of a chance. In the end they were unlucky not to qualify and indeed were unbeaten in 5 out of 6 group H games and came within a whisker of qualifying for the knockout stages. They drew away to Espanyol before losing 3-0 at home to Ludogorets.
Four points however were gained in back to back games with CSKA including an impressive 1-0 win in Moscow before knowing a win at home to Espanyol would see progression from the group. Despite scoring in the last minute to lead 2-1, the Spaniards equalised in the fifth minute of injury time to deny Ferencvaros qualification that night. It was then back to Bulgaria and Ludogorets where despite a late penalty earning a 1-1 draw the late concession at home to Espanyol proved to be their undoing as they finished a solitary point behind the Bulgarians and failed to qualify.
This year Ferencvaros returned to Champions league qualifying and have already defeated Djurgardens IF of Sweden by two goals to nil in the first qualifying round. Last season’s danger man Tokmac with a goal in each half was enough for the Hungarian champions to progress.
Rebrov has already overseen a credible 1-1 draw away to MTK Budapest in the Hungarian league and despite favouring a 4-2-3-1 formation against the Swedish champions employed an attack minded 4-3-3 in the domestic encounter. If Rebrov continues with a more disciplined formation at home and Neil Lennon continues with his own identical line up then it could be a match up in formations and come down to the individual qualities in the respective sides.
In the case of Ferencvaros, their front three spearheaded by striker Franck Boli looks to be the threat to Celtic. Norwegian Tokmac is the star performer and will play deeper central position behind Boli or on the left as it’s currently not certain as to whether their next best player – right winger Oleksandr Zubkov – starts the game. Having missed the start of the season through injury he’s near to a return though it’s unclear if he’ll be gambled on for Wednesday at Celtic Park. Brazilian Isael is likely to play the number 10 role to create a strong front four should Zubkov be passed fit allowing Tokmac to play his preferred wide left position.
When Ferencvaros score first they have a sound defensive record yet when conceding some of that discipline appears to dissipate. As such a high tempo start from Celtic forcing Ferencvaros onto the backfoot may be beneficial. It’s clear Rebrov’s side is not a team you want to give something to hold on to.
Last season’s European campaign – and indeed the start to this year’s attempts at qualification – point to a side getting into stride as a European outfit. In theory you’d say Celtic are marginally ahead in their development at this level having qualified for the knockout stages for the Europa League last season and of course progressing on the back of home and away wins against Lazio, but Ferencvaros look a team on the up and will be a far harsher opponent than Reykjavik proved last Tuesday night.
If Celtic intend to match the formation employed by Ferencvaros then a close eye will have to be keep on the Norwegian Tokmac in particular. With the uncertainty over whether Zubkov will be fit enough to make the starting eleven it’s unclear where the Norwegian will play, though if Zubkov starts it’s fair to say Tokmac may play as the left sided attacker meaning a decision on whether to play Frimpong or Elhamed may be the biggest call for Neil Lennon.
You’d hope Celtic would have enough of a goal threat in the team to ask serious questions of the Ferencvaros defence. Dinamo Zagreb – in their 4-0 win (watch above) – showed if you start fast and score early the Hungarians can capitulate. Keep them in the game or worse concede first then Ferencvaros have shown they can be a tough nut to crack and are certainly improving at a European level.
As always, these ties make for massive games for Celtic early in the season. This encounter should make for a game high on entertainment with two sides having a multitude of attacking options. Strap yourselves in folks, this one could be a high-octane European qualifier.
Niall J
