Celtic beat Man City and Chelsea so there’s no fear playing Aston Villa

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The Celtic Star

·29. Januar 2025

Celtic beat Man City and Chelsea so there’s no fear playing Aston Villa

Celtic are set to do battle with Aston Villa later on this evening in what should be a cracker of a match in our final UEFA Champions League group stage game. Villa are our third English opponent this season after playing Manchester City and Chelsea in the summer…

Callum McGregor of Celtic during the UEFA Champions League training on January 28, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Both teams are still in with a chance – albeit very slim in Celtic’s case – of making the top eight of the league phase and avoiding a play-off round, heading straight to the Last 16. Celtic are looking for a third English Premier League scalp of the season after beating both Manchester City and Chelsea in the summer, scoring a total of eight goals in the process.

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Just a point separates Celtic and Aston Villa

Just a point separates Celtic and Aston Villa in the standings presently but with Villa on home turf and the Hoops missing a key players, the odds are looking increasingly difficult for Brendan Rodgers and his side to come away with a win. Nevertheless, Brendan Rodgers has stated he will be setting his team up to win as he rightly should do and hopefully we can give the Premier League club a right good game of it tonight.

Unai Emery, Manager of Aston Villa speaks to the media ahead of the match with Celtic in the UEFA Champions League at Bodymoor Heath training ground on January 28, 2025. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Their manager, Unai Emery, was speaking before the two clash on Wednesday night and was full of praise for the Bhoys and pointed to their historical pedigree in European competition, alluding to our famous victory over Inter Milan in 1967 to become the first British team to win the European Cup.

The Celtic support will be purring as the former Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain head coach sang the club’s praises. Ahead of the encounter, the Spaniard said: “Of course, Celtic are a very prestigious club, they’ve won the Champions League as well. We are excited and motivated to enjoy with our supporters in this way.”

Emery also pointed the the team itself by illuminating the quality Rodgers’ team has and how there are multiple international players at his disposal. “They have very experienced players, international players and are going to play tomorrow here feeling confident,” he said. “The club is a prestigious club and the players feel they are a team to play in Europe, the Champions League.”

The Bhoys will feel that they have everything to play for the same as the home side when we kick-off at Villa Park at 8pm.

With Kyogo no longer here anymore and Daizen Maeda missing through suspension, our forward line is severely diminished. However, it gives others a chance to step up and prove that they belong at this level. Likewise, with no Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Auston Trusty really need a repeat of that display in Bergamo to give us any hope of a result.

Kasper Schmeichel of Celtic during the UEFA Champions League training on January 28, 2025 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Few folk outside of the Celtic support gave us much chance against Manchester City or Chelsea. Can Celtic make it three tonight? Stranger things have happened…

On tomorrow night: "Of course, they [Celtic] are a very prestigious club, they've won the Champions League as well. We are excited and motivated to enjoy with our supporters in this way."
– Dienstag, 28. Januar 2025

🗣️ The Boss on our opponents: "They have very experienced players, international players and are going to play tomorrow here feeling confident. The club is a prestigious club and the players feel they are a team to play in Europe, the Champions League."
– Dienstag, 28. Januar 2025