So before the match kicks off tonight, a wee news round up.
The Celtic team for tonight has been announced, and there’s no places for Toure or Griffiths who both failed their fitness tests and drop out.
So too does James Forrest, replaced in the team tonight by Callum McGregor. Rogic, Armstrong and Brown make up a strong midfield whilst Sviatchenko and Simunovic play in the centre of defence.
The striking trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar all play. So brace yourselves for a long and difficult evening, with the top strike force in the history of the game in town and ready for business.
The Celtic team lines up as follows;
In other news tonight, the King of Kings has resigned as boss of Helsingborg after the shocking scenes that followed their relegation at the weekend. This is a player who gave everything to that club; his return as manager was supposed to usher in an era of success.
It hasn’t worked out that way, but the way the fans who once idolised him turned was dreadful. His loyalty to the club has never been in dispute. It must have been a heart-breaking day all round for him.
Some think the King will return to his proper castle one day; his performance with his home town team shows that he’s nowhere near ready for that yet, but this has the potential to be a positive experience for him in that it lets him cut the cord and go to a club where he can take a more pragmatic approach.
It’s not uncommon for new managers to take an idealistic view of the game and of tactics; they soon learn the benefits of being more careful.
Here in Scotland Aberdeen have said they will be focussed on the cup final at the weekend, as if we expected anything else.
I hear they sent thousands of tickets back last week, which are now in the hands of Celtic fans. I wonder if anyone will ask Derek McInnes about that, especially as he was the one making all the noise about wanting a 50/50 allocation.
I’ll be writing about that one tomorrow.
Enjoy the game friends.