In this edition of Coefficient Watch, we recap the first leg of Europa League Playoffs played by Celtic and Rangers respectively.
With both members of the Old Firm in action, Celtic at home and Rangers on the road. Let’s recap how things went for our remaining Scottish Clubs in Europe.
Celtic 2 – 0 AIK
Celtic appear to have put their disappointment of the Cluj result behind them as they rather thoroughly dominated this match with the Swedish champions.
Celtic got both of their goals in the second half. With James Forrest netting the first in the 48th minute and Edouard scoring in the 73rd minute.
Perhaps it was that Celtic was just in excellent form, being committed to not failing a second time in Europe, but AIK was, quite frankly, disappointing. It is possible that initial reports of the strength of the Swedish side were overstated, as Celtic looked like they were easily the better side in this match.
There is still work to do, especially given how leaky Celtic’s backline has been, but has not given up an away goal in the first leg, if Celtic manage an early goal in Sweden it would put the tie all but out of reach. This should put to bed the silly narrative that their extra-time win in the Cup was anything other than a hangover though.
Legia Warsaw 0 – 0 Rangers
This is a Rangers blog so you probably know how this went already, hopefully, read our recap. Rangers looked strong but may end up regretting not getting an away goal. That said, Rangers did look the stronger side, and coming home to a rocking Ibrox should give them the edge they need.