Busiest Week Ever: Injuries and Naka says what we all think

By: Matt | August 27th, 2008

Besides the whole “oldest and fiercest rivalry in sports” thing coming up this Sunday, Celtic have some European football to think about. Celtic will find out their Champions League fate on Friday with the group draw finally getting under way. Over the past two years, Celtic have battled teams in the Champions League that were familiar foes. Last year’s group of AC Milan, Benfica, and Shaktar Donetsk were all former European opponents, and Celtic away travelers on the Tim-ernet certainly let you know that they were tired of seeing the same stadiums. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Milan, Lisbon, and (well maybe not in this case) Donetsk are lovely cities and the Estadio do Sport Lisboa and the San Siro are magnificent stadiums, but part of the allure of the Champions League is the idea that you play teams you don’t see every day and travel to far off cities. It seems that it is not only Celtic fans that are lamenting about the lack of variety in the Champions League. When Shunsuke Nakamura was asked about who he would like to get in the draw on Friday he had this to say…

“We seem to play Milan and Benfica ever year. To be honest, I don’t really want to say which teams I want to draw. In the past, I said I wanted to play Milan and it happened. I also said I’d like to draw Barcelona and it happened. If I say this time, maybe it won’t happen! What I can say is that I don’t think we want to play Benfica or Milan again. All I want to do is play against some of the best clubs in the tournament.”

I would think that most in the Celtic family would share Naka’s thoughts and I’m sure Benfica and AC Milan (especially Dida) are looking to avoid Celtic Park after defeats their last year. I’d would like to see Lyon from the Pot 1 in our group, as they are probably the easiest but are still no push over, just ask Rangers. On Friday I plan on live blogging the Champions League draw. If you are a fan of mocking UEFA officials and player’s bad suits, haircuts, and WAGs then I suggest tuning into the same Bat-time on the same Bat-Channel.

Now onto that “fiercest rivalry in the world thing”. Celtic and Rangers paths are to cross yet again with both teams even on points, with Celtic ahead in the standings only on goal differential. It is hard to say that any game in August can decide a season after last year, but as Celtic proved three points at a convenient time against the blue side of Glasgow can be very helpful in any title chase. Celtic might have to earn the three points without the goal scoring duo of Scott McDonald and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink on Sunday. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is rated at a 50/50 chance of playing after needing stitches in his leg after getting a cut against Falkirk. Scott McDonald will definitely not be playing on Sunday as a groin tear appears to be worse than first thought and Skippy might not be back for the start of the Champions League campaign. Once again, these injuries give Georgios Samaras and Shaun Maloney a probable chance to partner up again. If they can create the magic they had against Falkirk again, then Gordon Strachan might have the delightful little problem of four strikers for two spots.

Some more Celtic-Rangers fun tomorrow, the liveblog of the draw on Friday, and an actual preview for the match somewhere between now and Sunday, until then…

TAL