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CELTIC V S.S. LAZIO.
VENUE: Celtic Park. Glasgow.
Thursday 24th October 2019.
K.O. 8pm

This was the first competitive match between two of Europe’s truly big clubs but not their first meeting. That first introduction between the two go back as far as 30th of May 1950. Celtic travelled to Rome for Holy Year and to provide opposition for Lazio’s 50th birthday. The game itself ended 0-0 but Celtic great Bobby Collins said it was the most vicious match he ever played in. The game had to be stopped for 5 minutes due to the crowds rushing the ground. John McPhail recalls the day and how crazy their fans were. Italian hard man Remondini was suffering a torrid time from McPhail and wasn’t long until the two teams were having a go physically at each other. Referee stepped in and ordered Remondini off immediately and asked McPhail nicely to join him to appease the crowd....

The champions of Romania were back in town after only a matter of weeks. The first meeting saw our lack of defensive cover and poor early transfer dealings exposed - and left us crashing out of the Champions League. It was a bitter pill to swallow after a good result in the first leg. Losing to a team we should have progressed past, was difficult to take and made a huge difference to the income generation of the club.

Much was spoken of before the game about revenge. I don't think personally that revenge was the correct phrase, but we definitely had to prove a point.

Unlike the first tie Neil Lennon had a virtually full squad to choose from including games under the belt for Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli Mbombo who weren't risked at Parkhead against the same opposition. McGregor was allowed to play in his optimum position and the balance of the team was restored.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric with a very...

The Rebel treble winners got the next leg of their defence under way against a Partick Thistle team buoyed by the appointment of Ian McColl as manager. Could the appointment bring a shock in the big Glasgow derby?

Naw! It couldn't. It would take a while to make this game safe after a plucky Jags performance, but right from the start there was only going to be one winner.

Lennon made 9 changes to the team that started the last SPFL Premiership match, granting a debut to young full back Jeremie Frimpong, signed late in the transfer window from Manchester City. The Dutch youth international would go on to give his manager some food for thought going forward, with an excellent display. What looked like a problem position now seems abundantly covered with quality players.

Celtic started brightly with lots of possession but the first real chance came from a cross by Hayes, met by Bayo with the head. The effort went over the bar, but was a...

International breaks are never fun, particularly if your a Scotland fan... So it was good to get back to proper football as Celtic faced local rivals Hamilton in what can be a tricky test on a very poor surface.

Celtic gave a debut to Mohammed Elyounoussi while Odsonne Edouard started up front after his midweek heroics for France U21's.

• 67Forster
• 33Elhamed
• 35Ajer
• 2Jullien
• 23Bolingoli-Mbombo
• 8Brown
• 42McGregor
• 49Forrest
• 17Christie
• 27Elyounoussi
• 22Edouard