Celtic host the Sky Blues at Paradise on Wednesday night.
Charlie Nicholas has told Sky Sports that he expects his former side Celtic to suffer more Champions League disappointment when Manchester City come to town.
Parkhead plays host on Wednesday night as Celtic look to bounce back from a demoralising 7-0 defeat at Barcelona in their first Group outing two weeks ago.
It may or may not be as difficult as facing Barcelona, but Man City, on this form, are just about as strong as anybody in Europe at the moment and it will be hugely difficult for Celtic to emerge with a point, let alone three.
That being said, Champions League nights have historically been quite special at Celtic Park, but Nicholas believes even that could work against the Hoops, suggesting that City – who have won six Premier League games in a row – will draw motivation from the partisan crowd tomorow night.
Nicholas has told Sky Sports that he could see Brendan Rodgers’s side scoring, and even seeing quite a bit of the ball, but the Scot cannot see past Pep Guardiola’s boys.
“I covered Man City at the weekend and I’m not feeling good about Celtic’s chances, even with Kevin De Bruyne out and a special atmosphere behind my old team.
“Celtic will be driven on by the crowd and it is a fantastic place on these European nights, but I can’t see that bothering Pep Guardiola’s team and it will even spur them on because they’re a big-time team.
“However, City weren’t great defensively against Swansea, who could have scored more than once, so I think there’s a chance of Celtic scoring, and I can also see them having a decent amount of possession.
“However, with the form Raheem Sterling is in, scoring an absolutely brilliant individual goal against Swansea, and the way Sergio Aguero is playing in such control of everything he does, I fear that Celtic’s lack of pace at the back will be exposed.”
Nicholas’s prediction about Celtic boasting a “decent amount” of possession might be ambitious, given where Guardiola’s philosophies and roots lie, but he was right about their chances of scoring.
Celtic’s Ryan Christie
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