Celtic complete dramatic Euro turnaround
CELTIC sealed qualification to the Champions League for the 12th time in 13 seasons last night with a stunning second-leg turnaround against Shakhter Karagandy.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, midfielder Kris Commons halved the Kazakhstan champions’ first-leg advantage with a sublime strike from 20 yards before half-time.
The Bhoys levelled three minutes into the second period when Mikael Lustig’s pot-shot landed at the feet of Georgios Samaras who fired in.
And in the 92nd minute Celtic found the winner when Anthony Stokes skipped past three defenders and crossed low for James Forrest to score and book Neil Lennon’s side’s place in today’s group stage draw.
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund and free-spending Paris Saint-Germain are the pitfalls Chelsea and Arsenal will be keen to avoid.
Either London club’s worst-case scenario could see them pitted against Jurgen Klopp’s men, the French champions and Napoli, now managed by former Chelsea interim boss Rafael Benitez.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are all among the top seeds, meaning they avoid the likes of holders Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
SEEDING POTS
1. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Man Utd, Arsenal, FC Porto, Benfica
2. Atletico Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan, Marseille, CSKA Moscow, PSG, Schalke, Juventus
3. Borussia Dortmund, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, FC Basel, Ajax, Man City, Bayer Leverkusen, Zenit St Petersburg
4. Anderlecht, Austria Vienna, Napoli, S Bucharest, Real Sociedad, Copenhagen, Viktoria Plzen, Celtic