Celtic 2-1 Sarajevo

Celtic 2-1 Sarajevo
Wednesday 17th July, 2019
UEFA Champions League Qualifying (First Round, Second Leg)

As passages through to the next stage of Champions League qualifying go, this was relatively straightforward and simple for the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.

Celtic didn’t get out of second gear for most of the evening and though there were times when Neil Lennon cut a frustrated figure on the touchline, the hard graft was done in Bosnia-Herzegovina seven days ago when the Hoops won 3-1 in the first leg.

The chances of Sarajevo overcoming the deficit were slim and apart from the odd half-chance here and there, they seemed more intent on trying to keep the scoreline respectable on their big night under the floodlights at one of the most famous venues in European Football.

Despite having a goal ruled out for offside in the very early exchanges, that was as promising as it got for the Bosnians as Ryan Christie’s emphatic strike following some tricky footwork by Odsonne Edouard put any doubters’ minds firmly at ease.

Benjamin Tatar did level for Sarajevo just past the hour mark, which caused big celebrations amongst the few hundred hardy souls who made the trip from Eastern Europe, but Callum McGregor’s late, low drive sealed the win on the night for the Hoops.

It wasn’t vintage from Neil Lennon’s players, but it didn’t need to be, as sterner tests will no doubt come in later qualifying rounds.

This was just about ensuring progress, building match fitness and getting precious minutes in the bank, and avoiding a gigantic cock up of Lincoln Red Imps proportions.

For those reasons alone, it’s therefore hard to be too critical.

Probably the most surprising thing of the night was that Sarajevo finished the game with their full quota of players as, even considering the slippy surface caused by a mid-summer Glasgow downpour, one or two challenges left plenty to be desired.

It’s ridiculous, in my view, that Celtic and other domestic league winners have to go through four qualifying rounds to reach the Champions League group stages nowadays and it only serves as proof that UEFA are happy to sit back and see their favoured clubs from a select few nations dominate the European scene.

Are England, Spain or Italy’s fourth best club side really deserving of a lucrative group stage spot in comparison to one from Hungary, Bulgaria, Scotland or Serbia who’ve actually won silverware and got medals to show for their efforts? I don’t think so.

But that’s something to be debated at another time.