FC Shakhtar Donetsk vs Celtic
Celtic ML +125 (BetRivers)People are leaving the Scottish representatives for dead after last week saw both Celtic and Rangers take a rather pronounced trouncing —- but all defeats aren’t the same after all. And while Rangers looked rather pathetic away at Ajax, Celtic really didn’t look out of place against Real Madrid for the first 60 or so minutes of that match. The Scottish champions clearly took confidence from the home fans, and honestly, they looked the more impressive team during the early stages against Real, with Callum McGregor rattling the woodwork with a superb strike from distance before Daizen Maeda squandered a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock only moments after the half-time interval.
However, perhaps such a huge occasion came too quickly after their all-important league clash against Rangers, as they were visibly tired with Real wrestling control of the match as they so often do with their patient possession game. Vinicius Junior, Luke Modric and substitute Eden Hazard all got themselves on the scoresheet to make for a rather harsh scoreline in the end.
This is a side that can and does play a very inspiring brand of football —- and travel to essentially a neutral ground as this one will take place in Warsaw as the Ukrainian side Shakhtar is unable to play at home due to the ongoing war. And yes, Shakhtar did manage a wonderous win last week —- but they scored some VERY fortunate goals and to expect that type of luck to continue seems both foolish and unlikely.
Look long part short —- this is just a classic sell-high, the buy-low game as two teams are off the back of performances that shouldn’t be overreacted to. Celtic still gets out of this group, and that starts by picking up 3 points in Poland today
