Celtic’s courage in Stuttgart last night shows why we have every reason to be optimistic heading to Ibrox

Celtic’s 1-0 victory last night in Stuttgart didn’t come as a surprise to me, after all, I predicted on Monday’s Trinity Tims podcast that they would win because the pressure was off.

While this win wasn’t enough and we’re still out of Europe, it did show that this Celtic side has a lot of heart.

But it not only showed us that, it showed us that we have some players on the fringes of this squad who are more than capable of stepping up to the first team.

Viljami Sinisalo, for example, proved that he is a more than able replacement for Kaspar Schmeichel.

He more than proved that last night against a top side.

Luke McCowan also proved to us why Brendan Rodgers brought him to Celtic.

His finish in the first minute was cool, calm, and collected.

Martin O’Neill now has a bit of food for thought for the upcoming trip to Ibrox.

His rotation of the squad worked well for us, and while some of the players we expect to start on Sunday played their part last night, by and large, we should be able to put out a relatively strong and not too tired side at Ibrox the day after tomorrow.

But its not only that the rotation was smart, its the way we won that gives us plenty of optimism heading to Ibrox.

Its clear this side is more than capable of beating the Ibrox side.

Let’s be honest about it, we have more to fear from John Beaton and Steven McLean than we do from them.

Yet they still came out of the woodwork and mocked us about not getting beyond the knockout stages of a European competition since 2003/04.

As Celtic fans, I think we’re all acutely aware of this.

That’s why they play on it.

Well, at least I suppose we don’t have the worst record in the Champions League group stages in the history of the competition.

Something can now never be altered due to the recent change in the group format of all European competitions.

This is what they do, they always aim for what they think is our weak spot.

But they never take into account that for every weak spot we have, they have at least five more themselves.

Either way, despite all of their ridicule last night, the result in Stuttgart will have worried them.

In the back of their mind, they’ll know we’re going to we’re going to give them a game.

On top of that, we’ve come away from a tough night in Germany relatively unscathed.

They’ll also now be thinking that they’ll probably need Beaton and McLean to do them a favour.

All of a sudden, I’m not dreading the trip to Ibrox as much as I was prior to yesterday.

Its hard to say who the better side is here, but if Celtic’s performances in Europe – in comparison to the Ibrox side’s Europe League campaign – are anything to go by, then we know we’re the better side.

We know that we’re capable of beating them if we keep our heads at Ibrox.

Put simply, we just need to be better than them.

And of course, John Beaton and Steven McLean.

I believe we can.

After the amount of changes Martin O’Neill made last night, I’m also confident we won’t be suffering too much from a European hangover.

That was the biggest concern most of us had.

It looks now as if the Stuttgart tie proved to be much less of a hindrance than we thought it would.

It also showed us that we have some really capable fringe players.

Last night was an all round good night.

Let’s hope that Sunday proves to be an all round good victory over the Ibrox side.

There’s no reason that it can’t be.

Key Takeaways

• Celtic’s recent 1-0 win in Stuttgart demonstrated the team’s resilience and depth, highlighting fringe players like Viljami Sinisalo and Luke McCowan.
• The squad rotation proved effective, allowing for a strong performance ahead of the upcoming Ibrox match.
• Despite past European struggles, Celtic’s latest victory instils confidence for the Ibrox trip, suggesting they can compete well against their rivals.
• Celtic fans acknowledge their team’s weaknesses but feel optimistic about their chances, particularly against the Ibrox side.
• The victory in Stuttgart alleviates concerns about a potential European hangover, setting a positive tone for future matches.