Celtic has progressed to the playoffs of the Champions League
A lonely goal from Dedryck Boyata was enough for Celtic to secure their spot in the playoff rounds of the Champions League as the Scottish team defeated Qarabag. Celtic and Qarabag had to face each other on 2 matches.
The first match was played on July 29 at Celtic Park in Glasgow and it was in this match when Dedryck Boyata managed to find the back of the net as he scored at the 82nd minute and despite both teams having to play in 2 separate matches, only 1 goal was scored in over 180 minutes of playing time.
The 2nd and final match saw Celtic having to travel to Baku and play against Qarabag at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium. The Scottish outfit allowed their opposition to have plenty of time on the ball and it was actually Qarabag the team that appeared to be closer on scoring as the home team launched a total of 12 shots meanwhile Celtic only fired 5 shots in the entirety of the game. Celtic sat back and held on to their goal lead until the very end
The Champions League draw for the playoffs has already been completed and Celtic was pitted against the Swedish side Malmo. The first leg is scheduled to take place on August 19 in Celtic Park and the last leg will be taking place on August 25 as Celtic travel to the Swedbank Stadium.
After Celtic sealed their victory over Qarabag, Ronny Deila expressed his emotions as he said: “I’m very, very happy. It was an exciting game, right to the end there was so much nerves. I am proud of the team spirit that we had tonight. I admire Qarabag. I think they are a very, very good football team, the way they play I hope to see Celtic play like that in the future with no fear on the ball, attacking football’’