Our three Scottish clubs will return to European duty next week in an attempt to maintain the positive vibes from their previous performance.
Rangers thrashed Steaua Bucharest in the Europa League at Ibrox, while Celtic earned a stunning point away from home against Atalanta in the Champions League. Hearts also recorded a second Conference League victory to maintain their perfect record in the competition, despite their domestic struggles thus far this season.
Brendan Rodgers and his team crushed Aberdeen’s undefeated start to the season with a resounding 6-0 victory at Hampden in the Premier Sports Cup to maintain their own domestic winning streak ahead of their return to Europe’s top table. With the pressure at fever pitch following the midweek loss at Aberdeen, Philippe Clement and his Rangers team are vying to join their opponents in the showpiece next month when they play Motherwell at the national stadium today with nothing less than a win good enough.
Hearts’ 2-1 victory at St Johnstone on the road gave them a huge boost in confidence as they want to get back on track and move up out of the bottom of the table. Just as our clubs will be their Euro competitors, RB Leipzig, Olympiacos, and Heidenheim will have been paying attention to the weekend’s outcomes. Fortunately, it has been a mixed bag.
Starting with Celtic, they know that a victory at home would put them in a strong position and on seven points when they play RB Leipzig. On the other hand, their Bundesliga rivals have struggled to make an impression with losses to Liverpool, Juventus, and Atletico Madrid. Andre Silva has called the trip to Parkhead “like a final,” and they are coming off a 2-1 loss to Dortmund, their first league loss of the year. Although they are still trailing Bayern Munich, they would have preferred to win before leaving for Glasgow.
“This game against Celtic is like a final for us,” Silva stated. To remain in this competition, we must win. It would take a miracle for us to get to the next round of the Champions League with zero or one point from four games. Although we are a good team, we haven’t had much luck in the games thus far.
But on Tuesday, we have to defeat Celtic. They are quite good at home and have already scored four points. We should take that as a warning. We won’t have an easy game, and we’ll have to put in a lot of work from the first minute to win. But we can win in Glasgow if we can find the same level of performance that we’ve had in the Champions League in the past.
This season, our European future rests on it. We can win and pursue our dreams in the Champions League if we have the correct mindset.
Following their loss to Aberdeen, Clement and Rangers have had a difficult few days. In order to relieve some of the pressure and restore confidence in the team, they will be anxious to defeat Motherwell at Hampden. Traveling is never easy for Olympiacos, and the Greek powerhouses won 2-1 over the weekend before facing the Light Blues.
Like Rangers, they had already defeated Malmo on the road and fallen short against Lyon in the Europa League. Both teams currently have six points, and by scoring three more, they can move closer to the eliminations at this early stage.
Let’s go to Hearts, where they will face Heidenheim from the Bundesliga. They suffered a shocking road loss at Holstein Kiel, which was only their first win of the season and their first ever in Germany’s top division. Prior to the victory over the Jambos’ European opponents, the squad at the bottom of the German first flight had only two points from nine games. In order to advance to the next round, Neil Critchley and his team will be hoping that the Tynecastle factor can produce another outstanding performance and outcome.