Scottish European nights: Celtic hoping for a comeback as Rangers look to finish the job
Written by Connor Ryan
Celtic and Rangers return to European action tonight as Celtic travel to face Bodo/Glimt while Rangers host Borussia Dortmund.
Celtic are facing an uphill battle in the Europa Conference League to overturn a 2-goal deficit after last week’s 3-1 defeat to the Norwegian champions at Celtic Park. With temperatures set to plummet to -13 degrees in the Arctic Circle as well as playing on an artificial pitch, there are plenty of challenges for Celtic to deal with other than just the scoreline.
Preparations for tonight’s fixture went well for Celtic as they defeated Dundee 3-2 on Sunday with Greek striker Georgios Giakoumakis scoring a hat-trick providing a massive boost for his confidence. There is also no fresh injury news for Celtic but Kyogo Furuhashi and David Turnbull once again miss this fixture as they continue to regain fitness.
Bodo/Glimt will be the more rested of the two sides as the Norwegian football season doesn’t kick off till early March meaning their previous game was the first leg of this tie.
Celtic predicted starting XI:
Meanwhile, Rangers look to hold onto their 2-goal advantage over the German giants in the Europa League following their brilliant 4-2 victory in the first leg, putting them in prime position to go through in front of a packed Ibrox crowd. New signing Aaron Ramsey misses out through injury, however, there is a big boost for Rangers as defender Leon Balogun returns to replace Filip Helander.
The biggest boost for Rangers though comes in the form of Norwegian striker Erling Braut Haaland once again missing this fixture as he has not travelled with the Dortmund squad. Dortmund are also missing a few more top stars as Giovanni Reyna, Manuel Akanji, and Dan-Axel Zagadou are all out but Rangers will still be facing a tough side who have just come off the back of a superb 6-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga.
Despite Sunday’s setback with a 1-1 draw for Rangers at Dundee United in the league, Rangers fans will still be full of confidence due to their previous European performances seen at Ibrox this season.
Rangers predicted starting XI:
