On Thursday night, Scottish champions Celtic host a familiar foe in Romanian side Cluj at Celtic Park on matchday two of the Europa League’s Group E.
The Scottish champions have been totally dominant in their domestic league in recent seasons. However, the Hoops have struggled to transfer their SPL form to the European game.
This season Neil Lennon’s side started the campaign in the Champions League preliminary rounds, only to suffer a 5-4 aggregate defeat against Cluj in the third qualifying round. The Scottish side will be eying revenge on home soil in this encounter.
The home side kicked off this seasons group stage with a respectable 1-1 draw away at Rennes. The draw means that the Scottish giants are now three games unbeaten in the Europa League.
However, beyond those undefeated three games, they have a patchy recent record in Europe’s secondary competition, having won just four of their last ten games in the Europa League.
The Hoops do have a good recent home record in the competition, though, having recorded wins in five of their last seven outings in the Europa League.
The Romanian visitors have become regulars in the European competitions in recent years. After beating Celtic in the Champions League preliminaries, the visitors then suffered a 2-0 aggregate defeat against Slavia Prague in the play-offs.
The defeat meant dropping down into the Europa League, a competition which they have not fared well in recent years. They have won just four of their last 16 matches in the competition.
However, importantly one of those victories was a 2-1 win over Lazio on matchday one of this competition. The win could be vital in a group that looks very open.
Forebet predicts that Celtic will gain a touch of revenge on their Romanian visitors for their Champions League exit, by recording a victory in a high-scoring encounter in Glasgow.