Champions League Qualifying: KR Reykjavik vs Celtic preview

adamhigginsuk
Jul 15, 2014
4 min read

Ready to impact: Teemu Pukki will hope to launch his season with a goal in Iceland after scoring four goals in pre-season (Picture from Getty Images)

RONNY Deila takes charge of his first competitive match as Celtic manager when their Champions League qualification campaign begins in Iceland.

The Scottish Premiership champions face KR Reykjavik in the first leg of their second qualifying round on Wednesday night.

It is the start of a new era for the Glasgow club under Deila, who developed a reputation for positive attacking football as he guided Norwegian outfit Stromgodset to the title last term.

But the pressure to reach the group stages of the elite competition for a third successive season is on with Celtic last failing to negotiate the first qualifying hurdle nine years ago.

KR have never advanced beyond the Champions League second qualifying round but Icelandic football has progressed significantly in recent years with the national side coming within 90 minutes of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

Runar Kristinsson's side are currently third in the league after 11 games and have won five of their last six matches.

Reykjavik are midway through their domestic season - which begins during the summer - and may have the fitness edge but the Hoops have been putting themselves through their paces in a pre-season tour of Austria.

Celtic won two and drew two of their four friendlies with Finnish striker Teemu Pukki impressing with four goals, including a hat-trick against LASK Linz.

CELTIC'S PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES:

3 July Celtic (Stokes, Johansen, McGregor) 3-1 Kuban Krasnodar

6 July Rapid Vienna 1-1 Celtic (Pukki)

8 July LASK Linz 2-5 Celtic (Pukki 3, Balde, Griffiths)

11 July Celtic 0-0 Dukla Prague

And new assistant manager John Collins believes the Bhoys are prepared for business and hopes they can hit the ground running.

"All the preparations have gone towards getting a good performance and good result. We have had four (pre-season) matches and the squad is getting fitter every day," he said.

"We want to go there and try to score goals. We have watched them twice, we have had videos cut up so we know their strengths and weaknesses but at the end of the day it is about how we play.

"We know we have to take care of this team, it won't be easy, it never is at the start of the season but we are looking forward to it."

KR boss Kristinsson has played down his side's chances of causing an upset because of their part-time status but hopes his players can rise to the occasion.

"I don't think we have that big of a chance. Celtic is a great club and we know how they won the league last season, and how they've been the last couple of years, doing some great things in the Champions League and the Scottish league," he told his press conference.

"We are all amateurs here and they are fully professional so there's a lot of difference, I don't think we have a lot of chance but it's football, it's 11 v 11.

"We can go out and try to make it as hard for them as we can to try and hopefully get some result that we can take with us to Edinburgh.

"The players love these games, they love to play in Europe, it gives the team a boost."

The Hoops should have enough to beat the Icelandic champions over two legs, with the return tie to be staged at Murrayfield next Sunday with Celtic Park out of action due to the staging of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Adam's prediction: KR Reykjavik 0-2 Celtic

Team News:

Celtic are without captain Scott Brown after the midfielder was ruled out for three months after injuring his hamstring in their pre-season friendly against Rapid Vienna, with Charlie Mulgrew already confirmed as the skipper in his absence.

Winger James Forrest did not make the trip because of a groin problem, while right-back Mikael Lustig suffered a hip problem during the training camp in Austria with Adam Matthews set to replace him.

Defender Efe Ambrose only returned from holiday after World Cup duties with Nigeria last week but could be thrown straight into the team.

Fraser Forster and Emilio Izaguirre were also involved in the tournament in Brazil but joined the squad in Austria to play a part in their four friendlies.

KR are likely to select former Celtic trainee Kjartan Henry Finnbogason - who was at Parkhead between 2005 and 2008 - and English striker Gary Martin - who was released by Middlesbrough four years ago.

Possible Line-Ups:

KR Rekjavik (4-4-2): Stefan Magnusson, Gretar Sigurdsson (C), Egil Jonsson, Gonzalo Lorenzo, Haukur Hauksson, Gunnar Gunnarsson, Baldur Sigurdsson, Oskar Hauksson, Almar Ormarsson, Gary Martin, Kjartan Henry Finnbogason.

Celtic (4-3-3): Fraser Forster, Adam Matthews, Efe Ambrose, Virgil van Dijk, Emilio Izaguirre, Beram Kayal, Charlie Mulgrew (C), Stefan Johansen, Kris Commons, Anthony Stokes, Derk Boerrigter.

Betting Odds:

(According to Ladbrokes on 15 July 2014)

KR Reykjavik win: 25/1

Draw: 15/1

Celtic win: 13/2

KEY MATCH FACTS:

Celtic are facing Icelandic opposition for only the second time after beating Valur Reykjavik 9-0 on aggregate in the 1975 Uefa Cup Winners' Cup).

KR Reykjavik have never qualified for the group stages of either European competition.

KR have won 26 top-flight titles and 18 domestic cups in Iceland.

Celtic last failed to progress beyond the first hurdle in Champions League qualifying when Gordon Strachan's side lost 5-4 to Slovakian side Artmedia Bratislava on aggregate in 2005.

MATCH OFFICIALS:

Referee: Andreas Pappas (Greece) Assistant referees: Ilias Alexeas (Greece) and Alexandros Grevenis (Greece) Fourth Official: Antonis Giachos (Greece)