Champions League – Dinamo Zagreb hammered 9-2, Young Boys lose 3-0 to Aston Villa

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The Celtic Star

·18 settembre 2024

Champions League – Dinamo Zagreb hammered 9-2, Young Boys lose 3-0 to Aston Villa

Three of Celtic’s Champions League opponents were in action on the opening night of the tournament’s new format and two were playing each other. The third got off to a dreadful start, losing NINE away goals in Germany…

Aston Villa’s team poses ahead of the UEFA Champions League match away to Young Boys, at the Wankdorf Stadium in Bern, on September 17, 2024. Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images.

Aston Villa travelled to Switzerland to take on Young Boys of Berne in their first match in Europe’s premier club competition since the early 1980s. The Premier League side proved to be much too strong for the Swiss Champions coming away with a convincing 3-0 win to get their campaign off to a flyer.

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Celtic will face both sides later in the competition, at the end of January 2025. First up will be a home tie against Young Boys on Wednesday 22 January and the following midweek we conclude our group stage fixtures with a trip to Villa Park.

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Stefan Ristovski of Dinamo Zagreb looks dejected following the team’s defeat during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between FC Bayern München and GNK Dinamo at Football Arena Munich on September 17, 2024 . (Photo by Sebastian Widmann/G

Before that Celtic will face another side who were in action last night and it did not go at all well for Dinamo Zagreb at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Bayern were on fire as they put nine past the side Celtic will face in the Maksimir stadium in Zagreb on Tuesday 10 December. An opening humiliating 9-2 defeat against Bayern Munich is going to be difficult to recover from.

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The away match against Dinamo Zagreb on paper looked like Celtic’s best chance of getting points on the road. That view is surely strengthened after that result and Young Boys at Celtic Park should also be a game that the Celtic support will be looking for three points.

Now it’s over to Celtic to get our own campaign up and running in a positive manner with a victory over Slovan Bratislava this evening at Celtic Park.

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