The Daily Record’s top reporters are hedging their bets over Celtic’s prospects of beating Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday.
The Warsaw clash is one of the most unpredictable matches that the hoops have played in Europe with both sides largely unknown quantities.
Celtic emerged from five years hibernation in the competition to lose 3-0 at home to Real Madrid but if there is a way to lose that would be it.
Ange Postecoglou stuck to his word, pushed and pressed the European champions at every opportunity and took the first half honours even if the scoreline was blank.
Now, after a blank weekend, Celtic have to repeat that level of performance on neutral territory against a team that has just won 4-1 away to a Bundesliga club, forcing RB Leipzig into a change of manager.
Previewing the match the Daily Record reports:
Do you expect Celtic to get a win against Shakhtar Donetsk?
Andy Newport:Â Yes but they will need to maintain that blistering tempo they set against Madrid for more than half an hour. Keep that speed up for the full 90 and the Hoops should see off the Ukrainians with minimum fuss.
Craig Swan: Real Madrid, regardless of what was said by the camp, was a free hit for Celtic. This is the true barometer of their group stage aspirations and a point in Warsaw would be a more than satisfactory outcome.
Fraser Wilson: This is a huge test of the progress Ange Postecoglou’ s side. The Ukrainian champions are flying but Celtic really need to get a point or three on the board before the group gets away from them. A draw might be their best hope.
Michael Gannon:Â There should be optimism rather than expectation. Shakhtar scudded Leipzig in Germany last week so they are clearly dangerous. Celtic need to show they can go 90 minutes and a point would be a solid return.
That doesn’t cover many solid predictions with only Newport, a regular on the Record’s Rangers Podcast tipping a Celtic win. On Wednesday night we’ll know an awful lot more about where Ange-ball stands in European terms.
What they say , who cares they probably will be tipping sevco to beat Napoli.
I hope it’s quite safe to say , that no daily Record hack shall ever ,ever ,ever ,ever ,ever ,be employed by Celtic FC ,in the media dept now, or in the future structure of the club ! Ever . Each and every one of those living room typists ,tell their tales in the same format . Blandness ! No originality or creativeness or individuality . Don’t forget these cowboys perform their wizardry for the Star and the Express ,as they all come under the Reach company umbrella .