Tomorrow night we welcome Italian giants AC Milan to an empty Celtic Park as we get back down to Europa League group action.
It was a fruitful stage for us last season as we amassed a record 13 points from six games via four wins, one draw and a solitary loss winning a European competition group stage for the first time after numerous second-place finishes at both Champions League and Europa League level.
Our illustrious opponents have won nine major European trophies with seven of them the European Cup /Champions League but haven’t collected a major piece of silverware since winning their domestic league ten years ago.
Indeed it’s been a baron spell for the sleeping giants of Italian football who haven’t finished above fifth in seven Serie A seasons or made it past the Last 16 in Europe at any level in eight years.
Their last foray into the Europa League saw them finish third behind Real Betis and Olympiacos two years ago though truth be told they were unlucky as they lost out on goal difference to the Greeks.
Whilst it’s true that AC have been a spent force for the best part of a decade there are signs that the giant might be starting to awaken from its slumber.
Manger Stefano Pioli took over a year ago and helped guide Milan to a 12 game unbeaten run when they returned from lockdown which included nine wins and three draws and secured them a place in Europe not to mention only being denied in the Coppa Italia semi-final versus Juventus on away goals.
They spent conservatively in the summer mostly investing in youth plus the additions of Croat striker Ante Rebić and veteran Danish centre back Simon Kjær.
But they have kept together a talented if previously underperforming squad.
At the back there’s twenty times capped Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, homegrown right-back Davide Calabria, Italian internationalist Alessio Romagnoli, Argentine veteran Mateo Musacchio and left-back Theo Hernandez who forced our current loanee from AC Diego Laxalt out of the team.
The previously mentioned Kjaer also appears to have had a vert positive impact in shoring thing sup in defence.
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In midfield there’s Turkish playmaker Hakan Çalhanoğlu and dynamic Algerian Ismaël Bennacer plus recent addition young Belgian midfielder Alexis Saelemaekers who looks like a real prospect and has a cap for his ultra talented national team already.
And of course, the star man up front is veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who might be 39 but still banging them in.
The towering Swedish internationalist has an incredible 490 goals in 811 club appearances and has five in three games already this season.
But it’s not just been a good start for Zlatan but a fantastic start for the whole club with four wins from four taking them to the top of the league.
This included a 2-1 win over the much-fancied Inter Milan at the weekend and is a sign of intent that AC are back as a real force.
In Europe they triumphed over Shamrock Rovers 2-0 away in the Second Qualifying round before winning a 3-2 thriller at Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt.
Then in the play-off round, it was hearts in mouth stuff as the Rossoneri just eeked past Portuguese side Rio Ave 9-8 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
It really was one of the most incredible penalty shootouts you’ll see with Rio passing up three opportunities to win it before goalkeeper Donnarumma – who had previously missed one himself – saved to put them through and all of this was after Çalhanoğlu had equalised in the final minute of extra time to keep them in it.
Definitely a great escape.
But that was three weeks ago and they’ve capped off a 3-0 win over Spezia and the aforementioned victory over Inter since so I wouldn’t be pinning my hopes on a similar display to the one they produced in Portugal.
Their squad isn’t littered with huge stars save Zlatan but it’s got depth and talent plus an experienced manager – this is his thirteenth job in seventeen years – and they are currently playing with confidence and have a 19 game unbeaten run with 15 wins as evidence of that.
We’ve met them before on a few occasions in Europe.
All have been in the European Cup / Champions League with three draws, five defeats and only one win for Celtic coming back in October 2007 thanks to a 90th minute winner by Scott McDonald but that will play little significance tomorrow night.
Indeed the last time they came to Celtic Park back in November 2013 most people were expecting us to turn them over as they were really struggling at the time with no wins in seven and instead they hammered us 3-0.
The feeling right now is very different.
After our abject display against Rangers on Saturday where we lacked any sort of cohesion and spirit resulting in not one shot on goal there is a sense that as opposed to a welcome distraction we could be in for a long night against an in-form side.
Whilst players like Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard should be available again it’s not known if they’ll even be started and the formation is anyone’s guess at this stage though it’s highly likely we’ll go with one upfront and try and stifle AC in the middle.
At the very least it should be interesting and of course a good performance and any kind of positive result would be the perfect tonic to Saturday.
In their current form toppling AC would always be a big ask and even more so considering our own recent displays and the general malaise around the club.
There won’t be fans in Celtic Park to lift the players so this will be a real test of Neil Lennon’s man-management and tactical skills.
Let’s hope he gets it right.
A repeat of last seasons win over Lazio would do nicely.
....Always A Tim! 