Celtic take a 3-0 scoreline into their Champions league first qualifying round second leg tie against Armenia's Alashkert. Celtic had little trouble defeating the European minnows in the first leg as goals from Odsonne Edouard, James Forrest, and Callum McGregor sealed the victory for Celtic.
It did take the Scottish champions some time to finally break down Alashkert's defence, but much of that difficulty was due to the club playing its first competitive fixture of the new season.
In between Champions league first qualifying round matches, Celtic have been hard at work preparing for the new Scottish Premiership season. Brendan Rodgers team defeated Belgium's Standard Liege 4-1 on Saturday in a friendly. The team has looked impressive during preseason preparation as its league campaign kicks off on August 4.
Alashkert won the Armenian league a season ago. The league is a step or two below the Scottish Premiership and that was evidenced by the first leg's scoreline. Alashkert's haven't started the Armenian domestic season as yet, but the club's preseason friendly form has been abysmal. In the build-up to playing Celtic, Alashkert drew three straight friendly matches, scoring once during that time span.
Celtic easily handled Alashkert away from home in game one. Now, the Scottish champions will get the Armenians on home soil. A rampant early season set of supporters will be on hand to see the Bhoys play. Celtic's key player in game one was Olivier Ntcham. Signed from Manchester City a summer ago as he was unable to break into Pep Guardiola's first team, Ntcham has been fantastic since arriving at Parkhead.
The Frenchman scored five goals in 26 matches last term for Celtic in league play. Rodgers will hope Ntcham can improve his assists total. The midfielder only tallied one a season ago, but Rodgers is likely to mix up his tactics this season. There is belief Rodgers will change from his 4-2-3-1, which has been Celtic's bread and butter formation of the last two years, into something that may give more creativity to Ntcham. nger Scott Sinclair. The former Chelsea and Manchester City player has stated he doesn't fit into Celtic's plans currently. Sinclair score nine goals and tallied 10 assists last term. However, he could be sacrificed if Rodgers continues to move away from his 4-2-3-1 formation.
Celtic will have no difficulty in easing past Alashkert and another 3-0 scoreline seems realistic. The question shouldn't be about whether Celtic will win, but how large the winning margin will be.