Thursday 29th November 1755hrs Rosenborg v Celtic Football – Europe – Europa League It’s one of the anomalies of European football that teams can play each other as often as four times in competitive matches with qualification and the tiered model of Champions League and Europa League, and that’s what’s happened here. These two teams clashed in the second round of qualifying in the Champions League with both eventually ending up in the Europa League group stage. Celtic have held the upper hand in the meetings so far but the games have been pretty even. Matchday five in this section is shaping up to be crucial so continue reading for a match preview as Rosenborg play Celtic with a best betting tip selection.
Rosenborg’s league season finished on Saturday with a draw having already secured another Norwegian title. It was their fourth in a row and 26th in total, adding to their domestic dominance and they have the chance to cap their campaign off in style with the cup final to come on Sunday against Stromsfgodset where they will be big favourites. Rini Coolen will be pleased with his achievements thus far having only taken charge of the club back in July but what’s missing has been making any sort of impact on Europe. They dropped out the Champions League with a whimper – losing 3-1 on aggregate to Celtic – whilst they have been the whipping boys of Europa League Group B. Coolen’s men have lost all four games so far and conceded 12 goals in the process. Remarkably, they still have the faintest chances of qualifying but they require an awful lot to go in their favour – not least winning their final two games handsomely. That said, when the draw was made this fixture would have been earmarked as being their best hope of a win and that’s not changed so they’ll be going all out for the victory.
When Celtic returned to action after the latest international break they were aware of how important this stage of the season would be before the winter break at the beginning of January. The Hoops have some massive league games, will have their European fate decided and also have their own cup final on Sunday against Aberdeen as they bid to retain their League Cup and secure the first part of what they hope will be a historic treble. Like Rosenborg, Celtic have dominated their domestic league and the aim this season was to progress in Europe both in terms of results and performance. Brendan Rodgers has made no secret of that but we know now that their Champions League participation was only brief and they have had to settle for competing in this lesser competition. The Europa League has presented its own challengers of course with demoralising defeats away to the Red Bull clubs – Leipzig and Salzburg. However, Rodgers men did turn in their performance of the group stage last time out at home to Leipzig and that has kept them in the hunt for making it to the knockout phase. There are a host of permutations to consider but a win on Thursday is a miss as Celtic bid to end their Europa away day hoodoo.
Rosenborg v Celtic Betting Tip
In the context of their respective seasons then this game is of much more importance to Celtic than it is Rosenborg, even though the latter still have a hope of reaching the last 32. The hosts’ manager has revealed he will rest his captain for this one in favour of being fit for the Norwegian cup final on Sunday, and we could see some others join him. Despite the expected changes, Coolen has made it clear he expects his team to turn in another competitive performance against the Scottish champions as they have shown in other meetings. Celtic are starting to get some players back from injury and captain Scott Brown has made the journey to Trondheim for the match.
Both meetings at Celtic Park this season have went the way of Rodgers’ men whilst Rosenborg held their visitors to a draw at the beginning of August. These two clubs also met last season in Champions League qualification and Celtic edged that tie 1-0, with their goal coming in the away leg. There are a couple of differences between this match and the first meeting in this group. Celtic are in much better form than September and the circumstance of the game may see their motivation being greater. The Hoops have shown previously that they are superior to Rosenborg and I’m taking them to show that again on Thursday.
Selection: Celtic 8/13 @ Marathon Bet
