Rangers get a gift in CL draw, Celtic not so much

By: Ian Rose | August 7th, 2007

I know I’m late on this, and JT at the Celtic Offside has already reported on the Bhoy’s side, but I wanted to chime in on the Champions League draw on Friday. Celtic got an extremely difficult draw, facing current Russian leaders Spartak Moscow. Not only does that mean a tough opponent, but also an opening away leg on the hard turf of Moscow’s Luzhiniki Stadium. Bad news for the Bhoys, especially if they don’t clean up their form. Sunday’s effort against Kilmarnock was a sad one for Celtic, wasting their opener at home for a scoreless draw and looking little more organized than they did in their defeat to the MLS All Stars in the US three weeks ago. The same will not do against a team like Spartak, who has reached the group stage of the Champions League and will be looking to get back.

Rangers, on the other hand, got a much more favorable draw. Assuming they hold on to beat Zeta, they will face either Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) or Levadia Tallinn (Estonia). These are good local teams, but neither them nor their leagues are the equal of Celtic’s opponent.

In short, Rangers have no one but themselves to blame if they don’t get at least their share of the Champions League group stage cash cow. If they crash out against either of these teams, heads will roll in Glasgow, and Celtic has it all to do just to keep up.

Bad luck, Bhoys. But, if anyone can get a team together and the kinks worked out, I believe it’s Gordon Strachan, so I’d still tip Celtic to move on. Better watch the injuries on that hard turf, though … losing a key player in an early round could be almost as bad in the long run as an early exit.

In other Scottish draw news, Dunfermline will start their UEFA Cup pursuit on 16 August, as they host Häcken, one of four Swedish sides in the Cup’s second qualifying round. Good luck to Rangers, Celtic and Pars. Do Scotland proud.