Well-known Ukrainian journalist Artem Frankov shared his prediction for the match of the 5th round of the Champions League group stage between Scottish Celtic and Donetsk Shakhtar, which will be held today in Glasgow.
“Not decisive, but the most important match. Celtic, having lost two matches in a row to Leipzig, missed the chances for the playoffs, but retains a theoretical opportunity to get ahead of Shakhtar and break into the Europa League. To do this, the Scots need two wins, provided that Shakhtar score no more than a point in the remaining two rounds. That is, the non-victory of Celtic means everything for the team, the end, fourth place - you can not fly to the remaining match in Madrid with Real Madrid.
Of course, this is nonsense, I consider such a deal (Celtic - 7 points) to be practically unrealized, but Euro-92 will willingly remind us how seemingly unmotivated Scots can play. Fortunately, many Macs from Celtic took part in the victory over the CIS team 3:0.
In the last round of the Scottish Premier League, Celtic in Edinburgh, flying on two penalties and a hat-trick, scored a dramatic 4-3 victory over Hearts. Shakhtar chose to take a break, having agreed with Minay to postpone the game. What is more important - victorious courage, or a good recovery? The eternal question of football, the answer to which still leans towards the second option.
Failures in the Champions League led to quite serious changes in Celtic, and therefore I would not trust too much the impressions of the first game - the one that is 1:1 in favor of Shakhtar. It is important to just play more carefully in defense and not succumb to the pressure of Celtic Park, although I must admit that I don’t believe in a full house at such a match.
My bet: Shakhtar don't lose and more than two goals will be scored in the match," said Frankov.