CELTIC will face the Champions League holders for the second successive year in the group stage of this season’s competition after yesterday’s draw in Monte Carlo bracketed them with Manchester United.
Gordon Strachan’s team will also face Villarreal, runners-up in the Spanish League last season, and Danish champions Aalborg in Group E as they seek a third consecutive qualification for the knockout phase of Europe’s elite club tournament.
Celtic will open their campaign at home to Aalborg on 17 September, before a trip to Villarreal on 30 September. They will play Manchester United at Old Trafford on 21 October with the return at Celtic Park on 5 November, before finishing the group away to Aalborg on 25 November and home to Villarreal on 10 December.
Last year, Celtic found themselves alongside then European champions AC Milan in the group stage and achieved a dramatic 2-1 win over the Italian giants at Parkhead which paved the way to a last 16 slot.
Now Strachan faces a rematch with Sir Alex Ferguson, his former manager at both Aberdeen and Manchester United, as Celtic prepare to take on the Old Trafford side for the second time in three Champions League campaigns. Two years ago, Celtic lost 3-2 to United at Old Trafford before Shunsuke Nakamura scored the only goal of the return fixture at Parkhead to confirm qualification for the next stage for the Scottish champions.
Strachan is relishing the challenge and revealed he had a gut feeling he would be lining up against United again when he took the opportunity to watch them in Premier League action on Monday at Fratton Park.
“I had a funny feeling that we would get Man United,” said Strachan. “I was down south earlier in the week and I took in their game against Portsmouth. I just had a wee feeling when I was watching that game, so I suppose I got my scouting in early.
“We don’t mess about at Celtic. We’re in the competition, so we might as well play the holders. Last year, we drew AC Milan who were holders and then faced Barcelona in the last 16.”
Celtic met Villarreal in the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup in 2003-4, losing 3-1 on aggregate to an unfashionable club who have made remarkable progress in recent years. Champions League semi-finalists as recently as 2005-6, the season they defeated Rangers on away goals in the last 16, the team guided by Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini are held in high regard by Strachan.
“Villarreal’s reputation goes before them now,” he told
celticfc.net. “They are one of those teams where people say: ‘Hey, we don’t know much about their history’, but that doesn’t matter.
“They are a first-class side. Sometimes you can meet teams with a lot of history, but who aren’t up to much at present. Villarreal are making their own history now. They are a top side.”
Remarkably, three of the four clubs in Group E are managed by Scots. Strachan and Ferguson are joined in the fray by former Scotland captain Bruce Rioch, who guided Aalborg into the group stage courtesy of a 4-0 aggregate defeat of Kaunas in the third qualifying round.
Strachan admits to only scant knowledge so far of the lowest ranked team in the group, but has recent experience of Danish opposition in the competition, having faced Copenhagen two seasons ago.
“We know all about Manchester United and Villarreal, but Aalborg will be a good side, that’s for sure,” he said. “We played Copenhagen a few years back and we saw how good they were. If they can finish above them in the Danish League, Aalborg must be a good side.
“It’s exciting. It’s another challenge for this group of players and it’s one we relish. It’s good that the supporters will get to see a few new teams this season and my sister will be happy because her family will have a few new destinations to visit.”
While Celtic’s exceptional home form will again provide them with a good chance of making progress, they recognise the need to improve their appalling away record in the competition. In their five previous appearances in the group stage, they have lost 14 and drawn one of their 15 fixtures on the road.
Striker Scott McDonald, who scored their dramatic late winner against AC Milan last season, said: “If we can try and get the away form sorted, it would go a long way to taking us through. You always love to test yourself against the champions of Europe. We did well against Milan last year and the atmosphere in the games against Manchester United will be amazing.”
The full article contains 807 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
