Celtic aim for Champions League double as women’s team face one more step

It’s been a fascinating and successful week for Celtic in UEFA Champions League terms. Celtic men slammed five past Slovan Bratislava in midweek in their opening match in the new format competition. Now the focus is on Celtic women as they bid to reach the lucrative group phase in the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time.

Having battled successfully through two qualifying matches in round one, they are now underway with round two. The first of two ties against Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava was on Sunday. Normally home and away legs would apply, but both matches are being played in Scotland due to the war in Ukraine. 

The hoops have given themselves a great chance of qualifying with a good performance in the first leg. An early goal from Murphy Agnew after just five minutes, from an assist by Amy Gallacher, gave the hoops women’s side a 0-1 win. They will know they should have scored more goals having missed several good opportunities during the tie. 

Celtic women win but all still to play for in Champions League qualification

Although Celtic got off to a good start in the match, they did tail off somewhat allowing Vorskla Poltava back into the game. The hoops players will be aware that the Ukrainian side had a great chance to score too, missing an open goal. Hoops keeper Kelsey Daugherty made some great saves too.  

As Celtic FC media reports Celtic manager Elena Sadiku was pleased with the result.  “I would say that it was a solid performance. When it comes to the first 20 minutes of the game, I think we acted exactly like the game plan was.” “I think from then we kind of let them in a bit too much in the game by our own mistakes.”

Sadiku also knows it could have been a better scoreline. She will be looking closely at what didn’t go so well in the match as the side prepares for the second leg. 

“We are one step closer now. That is something that, obviously myself and the staff’s job is to make sure that we know exactly what to do. But also, how to fix the mistakes that we had today, and make it clearer.Because now we have played against them, and we know what to expect from Vorskla. Now, we just need to be even better for the second leg, and hopefully, we can get the job done and qualify for the group stages.”

It’s still a very close scoreline going into the second leg on Thursday. It is labeled as the home tie and they’ll be looking for a good crowd to help back the players on the night. Hopefully, the side under Sadiku can finish the job successfully. It’s a big step and would be a huge achievement for the club and women’s football in Scotland if they can do so.