Celtic play away to Rennes in the UEFA Europa League this evening.
Neil Lennon’s Celtic take to the pitch against Rennes tonight knowing it will be a far from easy encounter.
As French Cup winners, the Ligue 1 side are a team on the up and a recent victory against Paris Saint-Germain has signalled they are looking to improve on their 10th placed finish last term.
While the Hoops must approach the encounter with no fear and be aggressive, they do have to counter specific threats in Julien Stephan’s team.
One of them is attacker Raphinha.
A record summer for signing from Sporting, arriving for a reported fee of £18.9m (BBC), he’ll be out to make a name for himself against the Scottish champions this evening.
He made his debut at the weekend against Brest, but failed to make an impact during a 0-0 draw.
What better way to announce his arrival at Rennes than producing the goods on a high-profile European occasion?
What’s his history?
The 22-year-old really burst onto the scene during the 2017/18 season playing for Vitoria Guimaraes in Portugal, scoring 18 goals and assisting six times in all competitions.
A further season at Sporting enhanced that reputation, where he scored nine goals in 41 appearances before completing his big move to Les Rouge et Noir.
He’s a player who predominately plays on the flanks and could be a real test for the Celtic full-backs tonight, although played through the middle at the weekend.
With M’Baye Niang reported to be available for selection, it’ll be interesting to see where he fits in this evening.
A ringing endorsement
It’s not every day a player gets tipped for stardom by a football legend, but Raphinha found himself in that position last year when Portuguese outlet O Jogo ran comments from superstar Ronaldinho.
As quoted by the publication last September, he said: “We have had a family friendship for many years. I have been following the growth of Raphinha since he started playing soccer in Porto Alegre, and I am very happy for him. He will have an amazing career.”
The Brazilian legend is clearly a fan. Can Raphinha live up to that promise against the Hoops?
How will Celtic approach the match?
First and foremost Lennon’s side need to do the defensive basics well. Too often over the last few years common sense has gone out the window and left Celtic fighting against the odds early in away European matches.
Tonight will likely be a big test of Boli Bolingoli’s defensive discipline.
When he first came into the team at the start of the season, he seemed to care little about the defensive side of the game, but Lennon is slowly moulding him into a player capable at both ends of the pitch.
Others such as Christopher Jullien and Hatem Abd Elhamed will need to be prepared too, should the versatile attacker be deployed in different roles throughout the match.
If the Hoops can counteract Rennes’ attacking threats, like Raphinha, effectively then they have the talents that can be clinical and take chances at the other end.
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