Sporting Braga v Glasgow Celtic
Football : Champions League, 3rd Qualifying Round
Wednesday 28 July 2010 - Kickoff 8pm

---

Sporting Braga

Sporting Braga had an incredible season that saw them push Benfica all the way in the race for the title and also allowed them to overtake FC Porto, a team that has become accustomed to playing in this competition, and qualify for this stage of the Champions League. This is going to be a tough first test for the Portuguese side

Braga finished 5 points off Benfica in the race for the title and much of their success was based on their form at home where they compiled a 14-1-0 record last season, scoring 27 goals and conceding just 6. In fact their only defeat at home last season came in the Qualifying round of the Europa League when they were beaten in both legs by Elfsborg of Sweden.

The side have won their last 8 competitive games at their picturesque stadium that was built especially for the European Championships in 2004.

There have been a number of changes at Braga over this Summer. They lost their star goalkeeper Eduardo to Genoa and due to a number of injuries, the manager was forced to bring in Mario Felgueiras on a 2 week loan. Evaldo and Hugo Viana have also moved on while the Portuguese have signed 17 players since the end of last season.

Glasgow Celtic

Celtic finished runners up in the Scottish Premier League last season and had a fairly torrid season all in all. Tony Mowbray was sacked after a terrible first season at the helm and was replaced by Neil Lennon who was subsequently given the job on a full time basis this Summer.

They finished 6 points behind Rangers last season but that masked the fact that Celtic had been comfortably behind their great rivals for most of the year. They finished with an 11-2-6 away record in the League. Celtic entered this same stage of the Champions League last season and managed to dispose of Dinamo Moscow after losing the game at Celtic Park in the first leg. The win in Moscow was Celtic's only one in 5 away European matches last season. Celtic finished with a 1-2-2 away record in their European ties.

Celtic are another side who have lost an influential goalkeeper this Summer in the form of Artur Boruc while Neil Lennon has made a number of signings as he moulds the side in the image he wants. Lennon has made a couple of key signings as he looks to mount a serious title challenge as well as having an extended run in the Champions League, and the Northern Irishman has brought in Joe Ledley from Cardiff and, more recently, Gary Hooper from Scunthorpe.

Prediction

This is one of the toughest match ups at this stage of the Champions League and should give us some idea as to how both sides will fare when they begin their domestic campaigns over the next couple of weeks. The tie is also important in terms of monetary rewards for qualifying for the group stage of the competition although another tough round will await the winner.

The lack of experience at this level for Sporting Braga does leave cause for concern and the key departures may make it harder for this squad to gel in time for this game. They have proved their credentials at home last season in Portugal and will be hoping to bring that forward here and take some sort of advantage back to Celtic Park next week.

Celtic will also be blooding new members of their squad together in their first competitive game of the season although Gary Hooper is likely to miss out after signing on Monday evening. They have traditionally struggled when travelling outside of Scotland, especially more so in recent seasons and I am sure they will be happy to keep the tie level before the game at Celtic Park.

This is a tight game between the sides and I have a feeling Celtic can do enough to prevent defeat here. I am not convinced they can go back to Scotland with a win, so I will back the draw here and all to play for in Glasgow next Wednesday.

The Pick :

Sporting Braga 1-1 Glasgow Celtic

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Draw