Slovan Bratislava fancy their chances but Paradise should be too hot to handle

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The Celtic Star

·15 September 2024

Slovan Bratislava fancy their chances but Paradise should be too hot to handle

Slovan Bratislava is a game that is winnable for Celtic, but it would be foolish to take anything for granted…

After yesterday’s 2-0 win against Hearts which cemented our place at the top of the table, all thoughts now turn to Wednesday night when we kick off our Champions League campaign at home to Slovan Bratislava.

This is a game that most would have handpicked to kick off our campaign in Europe’s premier competition, but as winnable as the game is, it would be foolish to write our visitors off.

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Slovan are Slovakian champions and like ourselves sit top of their domestic league. So they have to be respected. Slovan won 2-1 on Saturday evening away at Dunajska Streda which will give them added confidence going into Wednesday’s game.

And while Celtic will be targeting the three points, Slovan Bratislava will be doing exactly the same thing, targeting Celtic Park as their best opportunity to gather some valuable away points.

Slovan are a hard team to analysis as Slovakian football knowledge is something we don’t have in abundance, but I’m sure Brendan and his scouts have had them watched on several occasions and the players will be well briefed. Brendan said at his media conference on Friday that he watched videos of their recent games during the international break, so he will have his team well prepared, as he always does.

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Celtic’s Lubo Moravcik celebrates his first goal during the Scottish Premier League match against Rangers at Ibrox

The legend that is Lubo Moravcik who of course has in-depth knowledge of the Slovakian game, has recently warned Celtic of being complacent as the Slovak side despite not having any star names are a well drilled unit.

Lubo also said that Slovan boss Vladimir Weiss (who’s son Vladimir Weiss a former Rangers 1872 player, also plays for Slovan) reminds him of former mentor Dr Jozef Venglos, a man we all knew very well. So they will prove a tough opponent, that’s not in doubt.

But under the lights at Paradise on a Champions League night Slovan will be put to the test. And the Celtic support can do our bit to make this a too hot to handle kind of experience for the visitors who will not be accustomed to what they are about to experience when the Celtic support is in full voice.

We are in good form ourselves at the moment and if we play to our full potential then this is very much a game we should win. In fact it’s a game we should be winning if want to make inroads on the European front this season.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers arrives prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Hearts at Celtic Park on September 14, 2024.. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

This is actually what Brendan Rodgers wants to achieve this season and the new format certainly helps Celtic, especially with the chance to get off to flyer and win an opening Champions League match for the first time ever!

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers at full time during the match between Celtic and Hearts at Celtic Park on September 14, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

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