da dobrowin： Celtic may be in the middle of a two legged tie against Linfield, but the club already know who they can face in the next round should they overcome the Northern Ireland champions. They’ll play either Norwegian champions Rosenborg or Irish champions Dundalk.
da 888casino： In many ways some would consider it a kind draw for the Hoops. There’s no travelling to Eastern Europe, there’s no energy sapping trip to somewhere hot. Whichever team Celtic face it’s very much in their own backyard. That in itself is a massive positive with the quality of teams just one of the determining factors for how tough a team like Celtic will find it in these qualifiers.
Both teams are names familiar to Hoops fans but what else do we know about their potential opponents and what is the must-know info about both outfits?
Here are FOUR things we reckon supporters should be aware of after Friday’s draw…
Rosenborg aren’t the European force they once were
Rosenborg were once regulars in the UEFA Champions League group stages and became a famous name across Europe as a result. In fact they’ve qualified for the group stages on 11 occasions in the past.
However, they aren’t the force they once were and have failed to reach that illustrious stage of the competition for ten years now, making it in 2007.
Since then they’ve struggled in qualifiers with only Europa League groups in 2012 and 2015 getting close to replicating their consistency of the past.
Last season they were put out at the final qualifying round by APOEL of Cyprus and then out of Europa League qualifying by Austria Vienna.
It’s not exactly the kind of recent form that should worry Celtic in the competition and the Hoops usually do well in Scandinavia, meaning this is a kinder draw that it might have appeared at a first glance.
Both teams are deep into their current league season
One of the trickiest aspects of facing either side will be going up against a team well into their league season. Summer football is played in both Ireland and Norway, meaning the Hoops will face a match-fit team ready to exploit any lack of fitness in the Celtic camp.
Rosenborg look to be repeating their league success of 2016, currently five points ahead at the top of Tippaligaen with 16 games played.
It’s not going as well for Dundalk, who are struggling to repeat their antics of last season, currently 12 points behind Cork City having played two more matches, 22 games deep into the campaign.
Should Celtic make it through against Linfield they will only have played two competitive matches before facing either side and that can be a factor, especially if it’s Rosenborg, a team clearly in good form and having a decent season.
Dundalk are no pushovers, they’re a surprise package
When you think of teams from Ireland, you don’t immediately pair them with European success but Dundalk have been a massive surprise package over the last twelve months. They’re enjoying their football and enjoying being the underdogs.
Last season they shocked everyone with a run to the UEFA Europa League group stages, disposing of BATE Borisov on the way. In the groups they competed well, running Russian side Zenit St Petersburg very, very close in two matches and even picking up a win against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
You’d be silly to write them off against Rosenborg and perhaps even against Celtic. The Hoops are no stranger to shocking cup upsets and while Brendan Rodgers have conquered everyone in their path in recent months, they’ll need to be at their best to see of the spirited Irish outfit.
Their tie is evenly poised at 1-1
The two sides have already played the first leg of their 2nd qualifying round against each other and the match is evenly poised at 1-1, with Rosenborg taking the slight advantage of an away goal back to Trondheim in Norway.
The Irish side opened the scoring, showing they have no fear when it comes to coming up against so-called bigger sides. However the Norwegians, whose most high profile player is probably Nicklas Bendtner, rallied to make it 1-1 and put themselves in a decent position to progress.
As mentioned though, Dundalk have performed miracles in Europe recently and for us it’s probably a toss-up between the sides in terms of who progresses to face Celtic, should the Bhoys do the job as expected against Linfield.