Real Madrid begins the journey of defending the Champions League title, facing Celtic, in a stadium that the royal team has not won before.
Real Madrid won in Glasgow on previous occasions, but did not win at Celtic, as one visit in the 1980 European Cup quarter-final ended with the loss of the royal with two goals, before Real Madrid achieved at the Bernabeu.
With Carlo Ancelotti at the helm of the coaching staff, Real Madrid is facing a new challenge, but with new deals that increase the strength of the team on a physical level, such as Rudiger and Swamini.
Rudiger and Chuamini possess the physical strength and high speed that Casemiro was characterized by before his departure to Manchester United.
There are players whose primary place is undisputed, such as Courtois in goalkeeping, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric as the brains in the midfield, Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema.
After scoring 15 goals in the last edition of the Champions League, two goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s record number (17), Benzema wants to challenge the age barrier (34 years) and continue to improve his numbers, and it seems that a group that includes Celtic, Leipzig and Shakhtar will be an opportunity against the French striker.
But it remains for Ancelotti to determine whether he will push the Brazilian Rodrygo after his good performance in the last two games, where he scored a goal and made another, but it seems that the sway will tilt in favor of Fede Valverde due to the need for a strong player physically.
On the other hand, Celtic are playing the match after winning their last 7 matches since the start of the season (6 in the Scottish League and one in the Cup) and scored an impressive tally of goals, amounting to 29 goals against one goal.
Celtic dominate the football scene in Scotland, with the exception of the last two years where Rangers excelled Glasgow, but at the European level they have been absent from the Champions League since 2017.
The most prominent deal for the Scottish team was the signing of Jota from Benfica for 7 million euros.
Celtic’s coach, Inge Postecglou, is relying on a 4-3-3 formation despite goalkeeper Joe Hart’s weaknesses.
The expected formation was as follows:
Real Madrid: Courtois – Carvajal – Militao – Rudiger – Alaba – Chuamini – Kroos – Modric – Fede Valverde – Vinicius – Benzema
Celtic: Hart, Yoranovic, Carter Vickers, Jeans, Taylor, O’Reilly, MacGregor, Hatati, Abada, Giakomakis (Furuhuashi), Jota
Referee: Sandro Schaerer (Switzerland)
Venue: Celtic Park
