DEAL CONFIRMED: Celtic has agreed deal to sign a world-class star

September 18, 2024 philip Celtic fc news 0

As Celtic prepare to kick off their Champions League campaign against Slovan Bratislava tonight, they do so in the knowledge that two of their opponents suffered morale-sapping heavy defeats on match day one.

Brendan Rodgers will be hoping to get his European campaign off to a flyer with a home win against the Slovakians as he bids to progress into the knockout stages for the first time since 2013.

And whilst the Celtic boss will take nothing for granted against Bratislava, a win would be a huge boost for Rodgers, especially after the hammerings Young Boys and Dinamo Zagreb took last night in their league phase opener.

BSC Young Boys Bern 0 v 3 Aston Villa

Young Boys opened up their Champions League campaign with a home tie against another of Celtic’s opponents, Aston Villa.

The Swiss champions started brightly and had a couple of half-chances but John McGinn‘s side’s quality eventually shone through.

Villa took the lead in the 27th minute through Youri Tielemans before the Premier League side doubled their advantage through Jacob Ramsay after some comical defending from the Swiss side:

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Amadou Onana sealed the win with an 86-minute strike to give Villa a win after their first appearance in the competition in over 40 years.

And whilst the defeat will have sapped Young Boys’ confidence, on the flip side of that, Unai Emery’s team will have taken a huge boost with a win over one of Europe’s best sides at the first time of asking.

Bayern Munich 9 v 2 Dinamo Zagreb

Whilst any of Europe’s top teams would struggle at the Allianz Arena, Dinamo Zagreb were dealt a footballing lesson from Bayern Munich in Germany last night.

Harry Kane was at his blistering best as he hammered four goals, which included three penalties, against the Croatians to break Manchester United legend, Wayne Rooney‘s Champions League record goal-scoring tally by hitting his 33rd goal in the competition.

Munich were 3-0 up by the 38th minute before Zagreb started a mini fightback by netting two quick-fire goals just after halftime in the 48th and 50th minutes.