30.11. (Wed) 19:00 Celtic - Atletico Madrid

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PROBABLE LINEUPS

CELTIC Forster Cha Du-Ri, Majstorovic, Loovens, Matthews Kayal, Wanyama, McCourt Samaras, Stokes, Hooper

ATLETICO MADRID Asenjo Perea, Miranda, Dominguez, Filipe Mario Suarez, Gabi Arda, Diego, Reyes Adrian

Celtic manager Neil Lennon will be wary of tinkering with a winning side too much for this crunch tie against the 2009-10 Europa League winners. His biggest decision will be which forwards to play and how to deploy them. Gary Hooper has been in fine goalscoring form, but he also has James Forrest, Georgios Samaras and Anthony Stokes at his disposal. Northern Ireland midfielder Paddy McCourt could come in for Joe Ledley on Wednesday night after making an appearance from the bench in their 5-0 thrashing of St Mirren over the weekend. Atletico Madrid will likely be lacking their star striker Radamel Falcao, who has a strained abductor muscle from Colombian international duty. Tiago Mendes, Eduardo Silvio and captain Antonio Lopez are also ruled out of the match at Celtic Park. Manager, Gregorio Manzano, will be aware of the larger threat the SPL side pose at their home ground despite beating them in Spain. Teenage goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, on loan from Chelsea, could be dropped by the former Sevilla boss having been red carded in their clash with Real Madrid on Sunday, which would see 22-year-old Sergio Asenjo given a chance between the sticks.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Atletico Madrid won the reverse tie in September 2-0. It was the first game of the group stage for both sides, with the Hoops not having lost in the tournament since.

• Celtic sit third in Group I with five points, below Wednesday’s Spanish opposition and Italian club Udinese, who both have seven points from four games.

• The La Liga club lost on Sunday 4-1 to their local rivals Real Madrid. Atletico took a surprise lead through Adrian but were eventually swept aside by Jose Mourinho’s team.

• SPL striker Gary Hooper (pictured right) has scored six times in the last five games for the Glaswegian club.

• The Spanish side, currently lying 11th in La Liga, beat Premier League club Fulham to take the 2009-10 Europa League crown.

• Celtic are on a run of five straight victories in all competitions. However, they have only collected one win in Europe this campaign, which came in their last match at home to France club Rennes.

• Atletico Madrid have the 19th worst away record in the Spanish top flight this season – they have won none, drawn one and lost five on their travels.

• The last time the Hoops lost was three days after their defeat against Manzano’s side, on September 18 against bitter rivals Rangers.

• In the Europa League, both clubs have an identical away record having both lost 2-0 and drawn 1-1 respectively.

Prediction

This game will be decisive for Celtic’s continental hopes. If Lennon’s men succumb to defeat their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage are all but gone, and a draw would be equally damning. The Scottish side are in fine form but, on the other hand, with only one scalp in Europe this season it would be foolish to immediately condemn the Spanish side to a loss. However, Atletico Madrid’s appalling away form has to be taken into consideration and – if Stokes, Samaras and Hooper perform as they have in recent games – then Celtic Park could be looking at a memorable victory.

Editor's Prediction

Celtic 4-2 Atl. Madrid