The Pitmen have a very difficult opponent
On September 14, Shakhtar will face Celtic in the second round of the Champions League group stage. Despite the devastating defeat from Real Madrid in the first match, not the best statistics in the confrontation with the Ukrainian teams, as well as the not very successful away European Cup matches last season, the Celts remain a very dangerous opponent. We tried to figure out why.
One the match of eight lost to Celtic this season, losing in the match of the first round of the Champions League group stage to Real (0:3). In the remaining seven (six in the championship, one in the League Cup), the Celts won.
One Celtic have conceded a goal in six league matches played this season. At the same time, the Celts scored 25 goals.
Two by two Celtic’s goals were scored by the Pitmen’s best snipers in the matches with the Celts – Matuzal and Brandão. Moreover, the first did it in one match. The second – with a break of three years. In total, three Shakhtar players scored against Celtic: in addition to Matuzalem and Brandão, Lucarelli managed to sign the Scots’ goal.
Three titles of different countries as a coach won the current coach of Celtic Angelos Postekoglu. The Greek-born Australian specialist has won the Australian Championship with South Melbourne and Brisbane Roar (twice each), Japan with Yokohama Marinos and Scotland with Celtic.
Four the match was held between Shakhtar and Celtic in European competition. All – within the group stage of the Champions League. Each team has two home wins. In the 2004/2005 season, Shakhtar won in Donetsk – 3:0, but lost in Glasgow – 0:1. In the 2007/2008 draw, the Pitmen won at home – 2:0, losing in Glasgow – 1:2.
Five years ago, Celtic played in the Champions League group for the last time. In the 2017/2018 season, the Celts took third place in the group with PSG, Bayern and Anderlecht.
Six out of 14 matches won by Celtic last European season. The Celts lost seven fights, one ended in a draw. Celtic have two wins over Jablonec and Ferencváros, wins over AZ and Betis. The Celts were unable to break into the Champions League group, losing in the second round of qualification to Midtjylanne, overcame the qualification for the Europa League (Jablonec and AZ passed), where they took third place in the group in the company with Betis, Bayer and Ferencváros. In the Conference League play-offs, Celtic lost twice to Boude-Glimt.
At seven In matches this season, the Celts have scored two or more goals.
Eight million euros – this is how much the most expensive Celtic, central midfielder Calum McGregor, is estimated. The most expensive Shakhtar player is Mikhail Mudrik, 15 million euros.
11th time in their history, Celtic have played in the group stages of the Champions League. For Shakhtar, this is the 17th participation at this stage of the group stage of the most prestigious club tournament in Europe.
17 Legionnaires now play for Celtic – this is more than 70% of the team. Shakhtar has 4 foreigners in its application, which is 14%. Bet on the match Shakhtar – Celtic – here.
17 matches were played by Ukrainian clubs against Scottish teams in European competitions. So far, the advantage is on the side of Ukraine: six wins, seven draws, four losses.
23.7 million euros spent by Celtic on the purchase of new players in the summer transfer window. The Celts gave seven million each for Jota (ex-Benfica) and Carter-Vickers (ex-Tottenham). Shakhtar spent 5.8 million on signing new players this summer.
68 matches held at the helm of Celtic Celtic mentor Angelos Postekoglu. Under his leadership, the Celts won 49 mats, drew seven, lost 12. It is noteworthy that Celtic scored 166 goals in these matches, averaging 2.4 goals per game.
107.9 million euros – this is the value of the composition of Celtic according to Transfermarkt. This is almost 30 million more than Shakhtar’s roster estimate of 79.8 million euros.
Source: Sportarena
