Celtic’s upcoming Europa League opponents VfB Stuttgart have been given a short break by their manager as they prepare for their trip to Glasgow next week…
The German side will meet the Scottish champions in the knockout play-off stage of the competition, with the first leg taking place at Celtic Park.
Sebastian Hoeness’s team had been in excellent form prior to the weekend, winning four consecutive matches, but their momentum was halted by a surprise 2-1 loss to struggling St Pauli who are captained by ex-Hoops midfielder Jackson Irvine.
In response, Hoeness has granted his squad a brief period of rest before they return to action against Cologne this weekend – their final fixture before heading to Scotland.
Speaking via Daily Record, Hoeness said: “That was one of those games where our recent heavy workload was very noticeable. So a break is absolutely necessary. I’ve told the guys to take a few days off and rest.”
“It was a disastrous afternoon in Hamburg and we need to reset. St Pauli had a siege mentality because of their injuries which made the situation even clearer for them and they had nothing to lose.”
“We have played a great deal of football recently and we should be fresh for the weekend game with Cologne and then the Europa League game at Celtic.”
In other news, Celtic could be granted 10,000 tickets for their trip to Ibrox to face theRangers next month.
Under Scottish Cup regulations – which are set by the SFA – visiting teams are entitled to a significantly larger share of tickets than they would receive in domestic league matches.
The guidelines allow the away side to claim up to 20 per cent of the total stadium capacity for cup fixtures.
If implemented, this would mean Celtic could receive around 10,000 tickets for the quarter-final tie, effectively giving them the entire Broomloan Road Stand.
However, any such arrangement would require approval from both clubs, as well as confirmation from the SFA and Police Scotland.
Conor Spence
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