Europa League action returns to Celtic Park on Thursday as Italian giants Lazio travel to Glasgow.
This will be the first time both teams have faced each other in competitive action with the Celts looking to consolidate their position at the top of the group.
Celtic returned to winning ways on Saturday tanking Ross County 6-0, meanwhile Lazio came back from three goals down to draw 3-3 at home to Atalanta. They currently sit 7th in Serie A.
The Italians got off to a dodgy start in the Europa League group stage going down 2-1 to Cluj in Romania. The won by the same score line against Rennes in Rome. Lazio made it to the last 32 of the competition last year being eliminated by Sevilla. They have lost seven of their last nine away games in the competition.
Italian opposition have proved difficult for Celtic to overcome, winning just five out of 25 matches, at home however we have a decent record, W4, D5, L3 and obviously our greatest ever result came against Italian opposition, Inter.
At the press conference, Neil Lennon said, “It’s almost like a Champions League game really, with the size of the two clubs and the prestige the game holds.
“A win would put us in a very strong position. But we’re going to have to play as well, if not better, than we have done in the previous two games and I think the players are capable of doing that.
“Lazio have the leading scorer in Serie A, Ciro Immobile, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is one of the best midfielders in Europe, so they are packed, going forward, with lots of quality.
“We’re not rookies. We have players with international experience. We are at home and we won’t allow Lazio to settle in and dictate the tempo. We want to play with our energy and get the crowd behind us.”
This game will be Neil Lennon’s 50th European match as Celtic manager and I have a good feeling about this. I am confident we can take 4 points from the double header against Lazio which would put the hoops in a great position to win the group.
If your going to the game don’t forget to pick up a copy of More than 90 Minutes Issue 105 can’t make it tonight you can still download the latest digital edition or order the print copy and we will stick in the post for you.
Mick Kane hails from Glasgow. He has been hooked on Celtic since he went to his first game when he was 7. Celtic beat Hamilton 8-3 at Celtic Park on the 3rd of January 1987. His favourite player at the time, Brian McClair scored four goals.
He started going regular as a 16 year old when Celtic played at Hampden for the season, being a Southsider it meant a short train journey to get to Hampden. From then he has had a season ticket travelled around Europe for games as Celtic became the dominant force in Scottish football again. A nice change from growing up during Rangers run to 9 in a row.
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