Celtic needs to be careful not to fall victim to the “post Europe” hangover tomorrow.

I read with great amusement today about how the so-called Opta supercomputer predicted Celtic’s Champions League fate. I love stories like this—they’re utterly ridiculous. It’s like me trying to simulate it on Football Manager, even if we had an updated database, which we don’t.

(Thanks, SI, for so completely screwing up the launch of FM2025—now delayed until next March.)

The other day, I wrote a piece on what Celtic legitimately needs to qualify.

Some people are saying 10 points will be enough, but I don’t think that’s the case. We should aim for at least 12; that would give us half the available points from the group and should get us into a qualifying position. I still believe we can realistically target 16.

However, that’ll be decided on the pitch, not in some groaning pile of microchips and data points.

And that’s why I find these stories so amusing when I read them. It’s refreshing to see one about us, as in recent years, the only similar stories in the papers have come from the FiveThirtyEight “supercomputer,” which claimed the Ibrox club would win leagues.

These games are going to be challenging.

They will hinge on whether our players show up and do their jobs on the day. The first match is pivotal, but the next one is potentially the hardest of the bunch against RB Leipzig. Although it’s a home game, they’re a good side. Despite not being in sparkling form at the moment, they’re a significant threat and will be a tricky opponent. The good news is that if we can beat them, we won’t have much cause to fear for the rest of this stage.

Of more pressing concern is tomorrow’s game and how it may be impacted by our European travels. Watching the English Premier League scores today made it clear that playing in the Champions League midweek affects clubs.

Manchester City scored in the early minutes against Southampton and were expected to run riot, but the game ended 1-0. Aston Villa took until late in the day to get their opening goal, but it wasn’t enough, as they conceded in the very last minutes of added time.

Our players returned from Dortmund looking leggy, and I suspect they came back from Bergamo feeling much the same way.

So, a lot will depend on the team the manager picks and how fit the players feel. There’s no doubt this will catch up with us, and the players will have to be rested at some stage during this hectic month. We do have the squad for this, and those players will need to be utilised.

Tomorrow is going to be a difficult game, especially in light of that midweek match. If we start like a train and score early, it’ll be a more relaxing afternoon. But if we don’t get off to a good beginning, we might see tired legs, frustration, and that could turn tomorrow into a challenging day.

It’s going to require patience, I think, from the fans and the team. As I mentioned yesterday, squad rotation will likely be necessary—perhaps not too much, but definitely some. The manager won’t take seven or eight players out of the lineup this time; maybe five at most.

The results from England clearly show that this will not be an open-and-shut case. This will be a tough game, and we must be sharp and alert. We also need to keep an eye on those players whose legs start to weary late in the match, and the boss will have to manage that very carefully.

But overall, I’m still confident that we’re going to buck the trend and get the three points. However, this won’t get any easier. We go straight from this weekend’s games into midweek, and although it’s a home match against Dundee, we’ll once again have to rotate the squad and monitor overall fitness, especially with a cup semi-final following shortly after.

This is that time of the season when things start getting a bit chaotic. It can set you up for the campaign or wreck it completely. That’s where having a large squad comes in, and I think the next few weeks may be especially painful for the club across town.

We just need to ensure we navigate it without any difficulties of our own.