BRENDAN RODGERS has today been hit by another defensive problem for Wednesday’s trip to Norway to play Rosenborg in the second leg of the Champions League second round of qualifiers.
UEFA have announced that Jozo Simunovic’s red card against Alashkert at Celtic Park on 18 July merits a two match ban. He served the first match ban on Wednesday evening in Celtic’s 3-1 win over the Norwegian Champions – with Kristoffer Ajer and Jack Hendry being the unlikely pairing in central defence.
Mikael Lustig is an option for Wednesday, although Rodgers may be tempted to go with the same again especially after a wonderful second half performance put Celtic in a strong position to proceed to the third round where Greek Champions AEK Athens await the winners.
Here’s the UEFA statement:
The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has announced the following decision:
Match: UEFA Champions League first qualifying round second leg match Celtic FC and Alashkert FC (3-0), played on 18 July in Scotland.
Charges against Celtic FC:
– Jozo Šimunović – direct red card – Art. 15 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations
Decision: The CEDB has decided to suspend the Celtic player Šimunovic Jozo for two (2) UEFA competition matches. The player has already served one match and will therefore be suspended for the next match for which he would be otherwise eligible.
