Champions League: Celtic v Club Brugge

Belgian side Club Brugge travel to Glasgow take on a Celtic team in red hot form.

The hosts remain kings of Scotland, yet to a lose a game domestically and swatting closest rivals Aberdeen 6-0 in the League Cup.

More impressive yet, is their marked improvement on the continental stage.

Dominating an RB Leipzig side packed with some Europe’s most sought after talent was the statement win Brendan Rodgers’ had been asking for following their setback in Dortmund.

Brugge similarly suffered at the hands of last year’s finalists before taking six points from a possible nine, including an impressive victory over Aston Villa.

Sitting second in the Belgian Pro League, they are not quite steamrolling opposition in the same way Celtic have but a 7-0 win against Sint-Truiden at the weekend was perfect preparation for game sure to be see plenty of goals.

Hosts must capitalise on home form

By the reaction of the Leipzig players at full-time, it looked as though they couldn’t wait to get the first flight out of Glasgow.

A sentiment no doubt shared by Slovan who were thumped 5-1 in their opening game of the campaign at Celtic Park.

Always a step ahead of their opponents with quick combinations and looking as though they would not be troubled by adding an extra half hour onto the game, Nicolas Kuhn was the picked of the bunch as Celtic played the kind of football Rodgers’ knew was possible following their thumping in Dortmund.

The manager will want to show that there is much more to come from his side both home and away.

With only one point on the road so far as trips to Dinamo Zagreb and Aston Villa await, the East End side will need to take full advantage of home crowd if they are to give themselves every chance of progressing.

Despite only one loss in four Celtic remain caught between two poles.

Sitting only three points above the bottom tier isn’t much of a buffer, whilst a three goal margin could propel them into the automatic places.

There are no easy games in the Champions League but perform tonight and the club could be on track to reach the knockout stages for the first time since 2013.

Visitors no shrinking violets

The hosts received a fair amount of acclaim for their Leipzig scalp but Club Brugge have an arguably more impressive one of their own after muzzling Aston Villa in a 1-0 victory.

Tyrone Mings’ calamity stole headlines but the Belgians kept one the Premier League’s best sides goalless in a performance that deserved more than being a mere sideshow in the post-match analysis.

Doing so with a squad in constant flux is not mean feat either.

Brugge are side packed with young technical talent, the likes Hugo Vetlesen and Christos Tzolis sure to find a home among Europe’s elite soon.

The developing crop are supported by veterans Simon Mignolet and a name familiar to Celtic fans in Dedryck Boyata, who spent four seasons at the club.

Granted, they are missing the goalscoring threat of Igor Thiago, whose £30 million move to Brentford left big boots to fill but Tzolis’ four goals against Sint-Truden at the weekend makes him a fairly promising contender.

With Sporting CP, Juventus and Manchester City still to come, Brugge will see tonight as their best opportunity to add one more scalp to their collection.