It has been a season that has seen us travel throughout Scotland picking up points on away days and we have also enjoyed some fantastic away days in Europe which sadly came to a halt in Munich on a bitterly cold and disappointing night.
Today we travel to Aberdeen for the last away day of the season before the Green and White half of Glasgow celebrate another trophy day down the Gallowgate, along the Trongate and into the merchant city. A double celebration to enjoy with a possible treble awaiting the following Saturday at Hampden Park on the southside of the city.
Tonight’s game will be dress rehearsal for the cup final. The Champions of Scotland will be in confident mood when they head North for the game to take on a team who have blown hot and cold this season.
Supporters buses will leave Glasgow packed with Celtic fans for the midweek fixture. The league may have been wrapped up a few weeks ago in Tannadice but tickets are still in high demand and as usual some fans will travel without tickets in the hope of picking up one outside the stadium. Some may be lucky enough while others will not be so fortunate and will have to watch in the nearest pub to the ground.
Earlier in the season we watched Celtic win 0-1 during a storm when we all got soaked to the skin in a rain and windswept Pittodrie. Today it looks much brighter as the early morning sun rises as I board the 100x at 5am in my hometown of Drogheda for the short journey to Dublin Airport to catch an 8am flight to Aberdeen.
It chose a flight out of Dublin to Aberdeen today, the only other option was to fly to Glasgow and take a supporters bus up. Always a great spin up the road with the tunes playing and a few drinks flowing but for this on I’ve taken the easier option of a direct flight and a cosy hotel. The early start is always made easier this time of the year rather than the dark and cold of the winter months.
Aberdeen started the season very well and are still in contention to snatch that third place in a shoot out with Hibs who have been the story of the second half of the season but had little answer for Celtic on Saturday at a sunny Paradise. Less than 24 hours later the Dons fans were shaking their heads as the wheels came off the bus in Glasgow against the rangers who recorded their first win at Ibrox after 7 previous attempts.
The last time the two teams met this season was back in February at Celtic Park and Celtic beat the visitors 5-1. In September their players celebrated in front of their travelling support after coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Celtic Park. In November there would be no celebrations for their players or fans after Celtic thumped them 6-0 in the semi-final of the League Cup.
So we have every right to be confident ahead of tonight’s game. I expect to see a few changes from the win over Hibs on Saturday but not wholesale changes with competition still healthy for places ahead of Hampden final.
The game will be shown live on Sky Sports and streamed on Celtic TV. Kick off is 8pm.
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