Celtic progressed to the final round of UEFA Champions League qualifying courtesy of a 0-0 draw in Baku last night.
The Scottish side came out with the intention of trying to get an early away goal, which would allow for the pressure to be all on the side from Azerbaijan. The Bhoys, however, could not find the net despite having several good chances throughout the night.
The pitch was the biggest talking point before the game, but credit goes to Celtic assistant manager John Collins who came out to rubbish this issue, correctly stating that both sides would have to play on the same pitch and that Qarabag had no unfair advantage. So it proved, as the Azerbaijani side seemed content to take aim from the edge of the box and blast the ball over the crossbar time after time.
A decent chance arrived for the hosts in the first-half, as the ball was swung over from the right-hand side and Craig Gordon, usually ever reliable, flapped at the ball before his defence rescued him. The goalkeeper redeemed himself in terrific fashion though, as he palmed a shot that seemed destined to find the back of the net.
Ronny Deila decided to start with Nadir Ciftci up front, a decision that looked to have been clever as time after time the Turk would use his strength and guile to hold up the ball, allowing for Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay- Steven to gallop beyond him and take the ball out wide. Celtic were struggling to get any shots on goal, not helped by the fact the Swedish referee seemed to have forgotten his whistle as neither side seemed able to win a free kick. Eventually Stefan Johansen got a set-piece about forty yards from goal towards the end of the first-half and sent it into the box. The Qarabag keeper got caught watching and had to settle for conceding a corner. This was how Celtic scored the vital goal at Parkhead a week ago, and it looked as though they may have a chance to replicate the feat, but unfortunately nothing could come from the corner.
The game lulled at times, not particularly helped by water breaks, one in each-half, which took the best part of five minutes.
Ultimately, Celtic defended well but if Ronny Deila has any concerns when he looks back on this game, it will be the unwillingness of some players to take a chance. James Forrest raced through on goal before unselfishly trying to roll it across to Leigh Griffiths, unfortunately not finding his intended receiver. A more confident footballer would have put his foot through the ball and killed the tie, instead Celtic were left to wait and hold on until the final whistle.
A play-off round now awaits for the Scottish champions where they might face opponents from Sweden, Kazakhstan, Israel, Albania or Serbia.
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Malmo from Sweden perhaps represents one of the easier ties for Celtic, no having performed well in the Swedish Allsvenskan and siting mid-table having won just eight of their eighteen games so far. They do have form against Scottish clubs in Europe, however, as they defeated Hibernian 9-0 on aggregate in 2013 Europa League qualifying.
The Albanian side Skenderbeu Korce are the second lowest non-seed side left in the draw and have never made it this far in their history, so Celtic may perhaps be hoping for a trip to Albania.
The final club that Celtic may not mind seeing coming out of the bag is that of Astana, who play at the Astana Arena, the very same stadium where Celtic fell 2-0 against Shakhtar Karagandy before turning it around at Parkhead. Astana are an unknown entity, however, only formed six years ago and winning the title for the first time last season.
The other two sides, Partizan Belgard and Maccabi Tel-Aviv, would represent a far tougher draw for the Celts and one that may prove a bridge too far.
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