TalkCeltic - The Ultimate Celtic FC Forum

The draw for first qualifying rounds of the 2018/19 Champions League took place today at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. Celtic were drawn against Alashkert of Armenia, and are due to play the away leg in Yerevan on 10/11 July, with the home tie in Glasgow due for 17/18 July.

Celtic fans may remember the name of Alashkert, as they famously dumped out St Johnstone of Europa League qualification in 2015/16, their first time reaching the first round qualification stage. However, Alashkert have never got past the second qualifying phase, and Celtic will look to impose their experience of the last 2 successful campaigns to overcome the Armenian champions.


The remaining fixtures for the stage are;

Torpedo Kutaisi (GEO) v Sheriff (MDA)
Shkëndija (MKD) v The New Saints (WAL)
Sūduva (LTU) v APOEL (CYP)
Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) v Qarabağ (AZE)
F91 Dudelange (LUX) v Videoton (HUN)

Winners of the preliminary round v Malmö (SWE)
HJK Helsinki (FIN) v Víkingur (FRO)
Ludogorets Razgrad (BUL) v Crusaders (NIR)
Cork City (IRL) v Legia Warszawa (POL)
Valur Reykjavík (ISL) v Rosenborg (NOR)

Kukës (ALB) v Valletta (MLT)
Flora Tallinn (EST) v Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)
Spartaks Jūrmala (LVA) v Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Alashkert (ARM) v Celtic (SCO)
Spartak Trnava (SVK) v Zrinjski (BIH)
Astana (KAZ) v Sutjeska (MNE)


With the second qualifying-round ties on 24-25 July and 31 July-1 August, should the hoops go through, Brendan Rodgers' side won't have long to wait until their next hurdle on the way...

Celtic have today confirmed the permanent signing of Odsonne Edouard on a 4-year deal. The 20-year old Frenchman joins from PSG, after a successful loan spell in the 2017/18 season. The fee has not been disclosed, however the club have confirmed that it is a record breaking deal.

Edouard joined Celtic on loan in the summer of 2017, joining up with his compatriots Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham. Although he had played little football at senior level, his record for the France U17, U18 and U19 teams suggested he was a player with huge potential. In fact, he was the star player for France at the 2015 European Under-17 Championships – winning both the Golden Player and Golden Boot awards as he fired them to their second title.

Despite scoring and assisting on his debut, in a 4-1 win against Hamilton, he took some time to get into his stride in a Celtic jersey. He would have to wait 3 months before finding himself on the score sheet again and display his true potential. In a 5-1 rout against Motherwell at Celtic Park, Edouard not only scored his first senior hat-trick, but he gave the Celtic fans a sign of what was to come. He bullied the opposition defence, popped up in the right places at the right time and proved that in addition to his size and physicality, he has fantastic ability with the ball at his feet.


More goals came against Hearts, Hibs, Brechin, Morton and Dundee in the next few months. However, he truly established himself as a fan favourite after two magnificent displays against Rangers in the final weeks of the season.

The first of these came on March 11th as ten-man Celtic came back from behind twice to win 3-2 at Ibrox. Edouard had come on as a sub with...

This Saturday, Celtic once again find themselves presented with the opportunity to make history. This time last year we witnessed the Invincible Treble, whilst this time around it’s the potential of a feat no other team has achieved in the history of the Scottish game – a back to back treble.

Saturday’s final will certainly have something of a déjà vu like feel to it, as, much like November’s League Cup final, Celtic once again find themselves facing Motherwell.

It was a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory for the Bhoys on that day, but football’s an unpredictable game and cup finals have been known to bring about some shocks over the years. While Celtic will be sure they have what it takes to clinch the treble, Motherwell will undoubtedly be eager to get some payback for the League Cup and walk away with some silverware in the process.

Celtic

Brendan Rodgers will be keen to continue his domestic trophy winning streak as Celtic manager and an important part of ensuring that happens is getting his team selection for Saturday right.

In his pre-match interview last Sunday, the manager stated that he already knew his starting eleven for Saturday’s final. So could the team we saw against Aberdeen be the same one that lines up this weekend, or could we potentially be in for a few surprises?

Perhaps the first question regarding the potential line-up for the final, is just who will start in goal - Craig Gordon or Scott Bain? Whilst Bain has certainly performed well when called upon, earning himself a four year contract in the process, it’s still up in the air whether or not the manager truly fancies him as Celtic’s new no.1. In...

Now that is how you seal the league!

After a disappointing result last weekend at Easter Road, Celtic were presented with the opportunity to wrap up their seventh consecutive league title in the Glasgow Derby, in front of their own fans. A situation the SPFL had desperately tried to avoid. The added pressure certainly did not faze the Hoops as they ran riot and dominated from start to finish.

The surprise inclusion in the Celtic line-up was Odsonne Edouard, the man who struck the winning goal only a month ago at Ibrox. Moussa Dembele missed out through injury, which paved the way for his fellow Frenchman to get his first start in this fixture. He was the only change from the team that hammered Rangers 4-0 on April 15th.

It was expected that Rangers would come out fighting after their dreadful display two weeks ago, however they could not get close to their opponents in the early stages. The early Celtic pressure paid off in the 14th minute. After some good work out on the left by McGregor, the ball fell to Tierney who skipped past Candeias and drilled a cut back straight to Edouard who only had to tap the ball in from 6 yards out. The Frenchman was off to a flier, and it was a sign of things to come.

Celtic could have been 2 or 3 goals up within the first 25 minutes, however just as the tempo of the game had slightly dropped and the half was winding down, the second...