Kolo set to make debut as Celts face Barca again

Celtic vs Barcelona Preview


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Saturday 30th July, 2016
International Champions Cup
Aviva Stadium
Dublin
Sky Sports 1: 17:45


On the 7th of November 2012, Celtic faced Barcelona in the Champions League group stage. At the time, the Catalonian giants were firmly considered to be the greatest club side in the world. Even though they were no longer under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola, the late Tito Vilanova had managed to continue the tradition of attractive, tiki-taka football and it was expected that Neil Lennon's Celtic would be powerless to stop them, even under the lights at Paradise.

What followed was without doubt Lennon's finest moment in the Celtic dugout as a heroic Celtic XI created history with a 2-1 victory, which would also set them on their way to the Last 16 that year. This Celtic side may have been altered significantly since then but not much has changed for their counterparts heading into the game on Saturday. Barcelona are still the best side in the world in most experts eyes and now possess an even more formidable front line in the form of Messi, Suarez and Neymar, otherwise known as 'MSN'.

Not all 3 of them will be present at the Aviva come Saturday however, with Neymar being unable to attend due to his commitments with Brazil in the Olympics which are due to start soon. 'M and S' will be there though with Lionel having cut his holiday short to kick start his pre-season and Luis Suarez ready to build on his incredible season last year. The Spanish champions have also made a number of new signings so far this summer. Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne have all joined the ranks at the Nou Camp but it is not certain just how many of them will feature on Saturday.

For Barca, this will be their first outing of pre-season. Normally this would give the other side an advantage, however with a team bristling with such world class talents, fitness is unlikely to be as much of an issue. This is certain to be a stern test for a Celtic side who's season is now firmly underway, even in July.


Celtic will be the first side to face the blonde Lionel Messi

In terms of Brendan Rodgers' side, it could be argued that they have much more important matters at hand than this game. It is not often that a match against a team such as this can be considered of small importance. However, with Champions League qualifiers having now began and with Celtic having played 8 games since returning for training in June, all eyes will surely be on the return leg against Astana in Glasgow on Wednesday night.

On the other hand, the importance of game time and minutes at this stage of the season can still not be underestimated and this will be a good chance for key players to get another 45 mins or so under their belt. Rodgers may even use this game as a chance to test out another slightly more defensive style or formation as Barcelona are likely to have most of the ball, us per usual. It could be a good opportunity to see how this Celtic side can handle coming up against a real top notch outfit.

Although Erik Sviatchenko will miss out once again due to his unfortunate groin injury, latest signing Kolo Toure is likely to step in to make his Celtic debut after arriving this week. His experience of the game and quality, even at 35, will be crucial this season as Rodgers seeks to solve the defensive woes which have plagued us for some time now.


Kolo will be looking to get up to speed

Despite this only being a friendly, it will still attract a good crowd to the Aviva. Any game involving Lionel Messi tends to do so. As previously mentioned, Celtic will probably have one eye on mid-week so I will unfortunately have to predict a Barca win here, hopefully still with a solid enough performance from the Bhoys.