Sadiku’s squad rotation risk worth taking as Champions League beckons | OneFootball

Celtic FC Women defeated Montrose 4-2 at Links Park last night to move to the top of the SWPL1. Next up is the UEFA Women’s Champions League…

Afterwards head coach Elena Sadiku was far from happy with her side’s second half performance. Leading 3-0 at the interval the team was pegged by to 3-2 by the Angus side, with the real risk that points could be dropped.

Elena Sadiku had made NINE changes to her side with the UEFA Women’s Champions League match on Sunday on her mind and she had made the right choice to rotate the squad, with no dissenting voices at the interval with the Champions already three goals ahead.

There were nine changes to the starting line-up, notably with Amy Richardson making her debut for the Celts. Kit Loferski also made her return, while Emma Lawton making her first start for the club.

The impressive Irish striker Saoirse Noonan grabbed a pretty special hat-trick while Celtic-to-the-core Maria McAneny got on the scoresheet.

Although there has been some criticism over Sadiku’s choices in relation to our match day squads, rotation was certainly the right choice here. She did bring these players in after all, and the Swede wouldn’t have signed them up if she didn’t believe they were good enough to wear the Hoops.

Going into this campaign, we knew that our squad was big. We knew that this was going to have to happen and a game against a team in the lower-half of the SWPL table is the perfect opportunity. Yes, they did manage to score two against us, but that isn’t a cause for alarm yet. We got the three points in Montrose and that’s all that matters at this point in the season.

You could question the need for Celtic to have to travel to play at Montrose just a few days before a massive Champions League game not just for Celtic but for the SWPL itself. And with a 3-0 lead at the interval perhaps the Celtic players allowed their minds to drift towards the two UWCL matches against Ukrainian Champions Vorskla Poltava at Airdrie on Sunday lunchtime then next Thursday evening.

Goal difference isn’t looking great right now, and we all know how important that can be in this league, but we’ve still got many a Glasgow Derby to play and there are five top teams this season rather than just three, with the two Edinburgh sides both significantly improved on last season.

The first theRangers v Celtic FC Women clash of rivals on Thursday October at Broadwood will be important, but again, we can’t jump the gun too early and call for alarm even if we do lose to theRangers side. There’s absolutely no reason why Elena’s side can’t win that match.

One thing is abundantly clear, the Champions route is a much more viable option that the one that runners up theRangers had to endure, getting battered by Arsenal then hammered Atletico Madrid.

There is no doubt that Sunday is one of the biggest games of the season. We have the chance to make history again by progressing to the group stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time ever, and with two home games against Vorskla Poltava, there really is no better chance.

And I say that with full respect to our opponents as this will be no easy task. We’ve got a great chance but we still need to keep things professional. Elena Sadiku understands that, and is making sure her squad is as prepared as they can be for the reigning Ukrainian champions, and we’ll see the strongest possible side take the field for these history making matches.

So I suppose the message I’m trying to get across is – trust the manager. She’s the head coach of the Celtic FC Women for a reason and I’m sure come Sunday, we’ll all be celebrating a fantastic first-leg result.

Why not get along to support the Ghirls on the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Sunday lunchtime before heading to Paradise for the Celtic v Falkirk match in the League Cup?

Jessica Elliott

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