Champions League preview: Braga vs Celtic
This season’s Champions League tournament is about to kick off for Scottish Premier League club Celtic, as they face Portuguese Liga runners-up Sporting Clube de Braga in a third qualifying round double-header. The first leg takes place on Wednesday at Estádio Municipal de Braga, with a capacity of 30,154, and the return match will be held at Celtic Park on Aug. 4. The two clubs have never faced each other and will be keen to make an impression as they aim to progress to the lucrative group stages of the competition.
While Braga have only won a single domestic trophy, back in 1966, they have had mild success in Europe in recent years, having secured the last-ever UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2008. As a result of that win, they gained qualification to the UEFA Cup group stage and progressed from a group featuring English Premier League side Portsmouth, Italian club A.C. Milan, Wolfsburg of the Bundesliga and Heerenveen of the Netherlands. The club secured their highest-ever league placing in the 2009-10 season, when they finished second and were allowed to enter this season’s Champions League qualifying rounds.
Celtic have enjoyed enormous success in the SPL, having won a total of 42 league championships, including six in the last 10 years. They have also secured 34 Scottish Cup wins and 14 Scottish League Cups. Back in 1967, the club tasted European success for the first and only time, coming back from a goal down with strikes from Tommy Gemmell and Steve Chalmers to defeat Italian side Internazionale 2-1 in the final of the then European Cup. The club also reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 2003, where two goals from Swedish star striker Henrik Larsson were not enough to overcome the challenge of Jose Mourinho’s Porto team, which won 3-2 after extra time.
One of Celtic’s midfielders in that game, Neil Lennon, is now the club’s manager. He took over as interim manager following the departure of Tony Mowbray in March and won all but one of the club’s remaining games. This proved enough to see him appointed manager on a permanent basis. Ex-Porto and Tenerife striker Domingos Paciência has been manager of Braga since the summer of 2009, where he took over from Jorge Jesus.
Lennon expects a stiff challenge from Braga, as he told Celtic’s official website: “They had a decent run in the UEFA Cup in the last few years and had some decent results. They are a very attack-minded team, score a lot of goals and are technically very good."
Celtic have received a boost ahead of the match with the news that their new signing, Mexican midfielder Efrain Juarez, has been cleared to play in the club. The 22-year-old has had his work permit granted and will be eligible to play for the Hoops in the crucial tie. The utility player, who has signed a three-year contract with the option of a fourth, featured in Mexico’s World Cup campaign.
The SPL runners-up have added no fewer than five fresh faces to their squad so far, and are aiming to add more. Those who have already joined the Bhoys include Juarez, ex-Cardiff star and Wales international Joe Ledley, striker Daryl Murphy, full-back Cha Du-Ri and Charlie Mulgrew, who is retuning to the club after spells at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aberdeen. Whether any of these players has a role to play in the qualifier remains to be seen, but Lennon revealed to the BBC that he is keen to sign more recruits. Meanwhile, Braga have not secured the services of any more players in this close season.
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