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Celtic are just 90-minutes away from another year of group stage football in the Champions League. In the Hoops way is Swedish Champions Malmo and after last week’s 3-2 victory at Paradise, Celtic only needs a draw to advance to the last-32.
After a war of words off the field, it’s time for the players do their talking on the field in an all-or-nothing game.
Celtic (Form: WDWWWW)
A makeshift Celtic side made light work of a weak Dundee United side on Saturday winning 3-1 with goals from Griffiths, McGregor and an own goal maintained their unbeaten start to the league season.
Van Dijk’s departure will almost certainly happen after this game regardless of the result. The onus will be on Deila to replace him with a similarly talented player and leader to guide Boyata in the right direction.
Malmo (Form: DWWWLL)
Malmo lost their domestic game at the weekend to mid-table side Hacken 1-0. Manager Age Hareide made several changes to the starting line-up that played at Paradise in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss. Jo Inge Berget, Vladimir Rodic and Markus Rosenberg all started for the Swedish champions.
Team news
Lustig has a 50-50 chance of starting and will hope to fight off the hamstring injury that he sustained in the first-leg and kept him out of the squad on Saturday. Other than the Swede, Deila has a full squad available.
Markus Rosenberg returns for the Swedish side and will be looking to score the all-important goal that sends Malmo through to the group stage for a second year in a row. Ghanaian midfielder Enoch Kofi Adu is also available for selection following suspension.
Prediction: Celtic 1-1 Malmo