Big European match this midweek so here’s an optimistic look at the possibilities for Friday’s draw should Celtic achieve a result in Finland on Wednesday.
If Celtic go through then we will be in the seeded half of the Champions group. This means we can’t be drawn against the other teams in that half of the draw, which at the time of writing look likely to include FC Basel, Anderlecht and Dinamo Zagreb. BATE Borisov were the seeded team in their match but could only get a 1-1 draw at home to Debrecen of Hungary, so that one could go either way.
There are five teams in the unseeded half of the Champions group – the teams Celtic could get drawn against. CFR Cluj will be one of them if they manage to hold on to a 1-0 first leg lead against Slovan Liberec in the Czech Republic. Partizan Belgrade have to overcome a 0-1 deficit at home against AEL Limassol if they are to be in it, but the other three look pretty clear cut. Helsinborg are defending a 3-0 away lead against Slask Wroclaw, Kiryat Shmona travel to Neftchi Baku with a 4-0 lead and Luxembourg champions Dudelange are unlikely to overturn a 4-1 deficit to Maribor, even if they are at home in the intimidating atmosphere of the Stade Jos Nosbaum (capacity 2,558, average attendance 2 – Jean Pierre et Delores Bonqueurs et le chien Roveur). Incredibly, the Dudes managed to beat Red Bull Salzburg in qualifying round 2 (1-0 and 3-4 after extra time) but their usual aggregate scorelines at this stage of the competition read like updates from the test match at Headingley.
Going by coefficients our potential opponents would line up this way in difficulty order:
CFR Cluj – 18.764
Kiryat Shmona – 14.974
Partizan Belgrade – 14.350
Helsinborg – 12.680
(Debrecen – 7.950)
NK Maribor – 6.424
(Slovan Liberec – 5.570)
(AEL Limassol – 5.099)
(Cluj would replace Dinamo Zagreb in Celtic’s half of the draw if Debrecen manage to beat the Croatians)
Celtic’s coefficient, remember, is 32.728.
Meanwhile, in tonight’s domestic competition, Sevco (coefficient 0.000 as they have never played a game in Europe) meet East Fife (coefficient same as Sevco). Fifers chairman Sid Columbine (to use his stage name) is quoted in today’s papers as saying, ‘’Rangers were expecting 40,000 before it got moved, but they reckon it could be between 20,000 and 25,000 because it’s now on a Tuesday night. We’ve got a lot of supporters not going because they have work in the morning and it disappoints us greatly – the two teams, in actual fact.”
Were they really expecting 20,000 dairy farmers, postmen and bakers from Fife to make up half the crowd?
JB Banal
ntvcelticfanzine.com 
Victory in tomorrow’s night game is vital for Celtic.
It’s all very well playing friendlies against Real Madrid in the US but the Champions league is the place to be.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League this season would reinforce the belief that we are a 2nd rate club playing in a 3rd rate league.
If we fail to qualify then I hope the manager will be subject to some constructive criticism.
Let’s hope the Bhoys can get a positive result in Helsinki.
Champions league football for Celtic would make the winter so much more appealing!
All a bit hi-tech for the NTV SilverJubilee!
Good result last night . Said after the game it would be better if we were playing a proper conpetitive game this weekend- hints last night that some momentum is ongoing and that could be lost this weekend. I enjoy all these summer sports but now that the Fitba has started I don’t actually like it stopping.
Anyway good luck with the Blog and here’s to the next 25
H x 2
Test post to ensure blog reg goes ok
Well we got a rare away win and now a trip to the king of kings hometown. We need to get into the Champs League proper, these nights at Celtic Park cannot be beaten & for myself got so much better than the Glasgow Derby, that we no longer have (how good is that, not having to see or hear the filth in our own home). Yes the financial side is important but our standing as a football club in Europe is so much more important than ever without that mob dragging us down we can finally be judged on our own again.
Glasgow’s Green & White!
I think we should enlist the help of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in our upcoming playoffgames withThe Borg. He was once assimilated by them and so will have first hand knowledge of their weaknesses
Best of luck to the Hoops as they boldly go wjere no Celt has gone before.(Sweden onEuropean duty)
Henrik Larsson is probably the football world’s most famous Swede. That Bedoya bloke is no Swede he’s a turnip.
Just if you are checking out Bert Kassie’s website (a fine site it is too), you’ll notice that there some mob called Glasgow Rangers ranked several places below Celtic. Bert’s site hasn’t been updated to remove sides that no longer exist. I believe Glasgow Rangers went out of business years ago, not sure if I’m right but they reformed as a girls team, I don’t know if they still play at Cathkin Park or not. Anyway, I think Sally’s got his hands full with all those diddies.
Turriff don’t speak ill of the dead, poor Rangers FC, I still read & see the Zombies stoatin aboot Scotland as if they are still alive, poor them and even more poor us havin still having to put up wae them. If only we had a strong association to sort it out.
The Sevcovians remind me of the old guy in this sketch…
Bring Out Your Dead
I pasted by Ipox tonight & the Zombies, just like the scene from the film the living dead at the supermarket, they stoated about bumping it2 each other, mumbling werthepeepell, old habits, eh, most of them I recognised from the media!
Its a big night for cup ties that could decide your season….
Celtic away to the Swedes, avoiding defeat should be enough to ensure an £18M windfall as we enter the CL proper.
Falkirk looking to do the double of rookie pie muncher Sally McCoist, who’s only ever won 1 cup tie and that was the recent game against SFL giants east fife.
Can Sally make it 2 on the bounce to secure a lucrative home tie which might keep them in business for another week?
Mon the Hoops!!! (and the Bairns too)