Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has hinted he will hand some players Champions League auditions as they close an unsuccessful campaign against Feyenoord.
Celtic have one point from five games and a 2-0 defeat against Lazio last time out consigned them to bottom spot and the Dutch champions to third place in Group E.
Rodgers has handed rare starts to Tomoki Iwata, Mikey Johnston and Oh Hyeon-gyu in the past two domestic games and he will partly use Wednesday’s match to continue assessing his January transfer window needs.
Rodgers, who will again be without Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda, said: “Because of the situation we have with injuries and with all the games, it will give the opportunity for players to play.
“When we reach January, a lot of the players in the squad will have the opportunity to play games and play games through all the levels, and then can be assessed from there.
“But whatever team we put out, we are putting a team out always to win at Celtic. There’s no gifts, there’s no free games.
“Every game is to win and, even though disappointingly we won’t have anything in Europe after Christmas, we are still playing for pride here and the support. So we will have a team looking to fight for the result.
“It’s our last game here in the competition and we want to give the supporters something to go home happy with.
“Our attitude is exactly the same, to go and look to win the game. And we do that by playing our way. I think we showed at the weekend, once we divert from that, we don’t have the same qualities and it’s not our strength. Our strength is to play the way we want to play.”
Rodgers felt his side deviated from their positive passing game as they lost a half-time lead at Kilmarnock to suffer their first cinch Premiership defeat of the season.
“The value of the game at the weekend is we know what the issues were,” he said.
“In the St Johnstone game, the intensity wasn’t right and we fixed that. Sunday for us, when we analysed the game, we didn’t play with the poise that we need to play with in the second half.
“But at least we see that and we can take that learning into the game on Wednesday.”
Celtic have now gone 15 Champions League group games without victory, a run stretching back to Rodgers’ first spell in charge.
But the manager dismissed the long-term significance of getting a morale-boosting win ahead of next season’s European campaign.
“It’s still such a long way to go,” he said. “And probably, come this time next year, the squad may look a lot different again.
“We can only focus on the present and for us it’s performing to the level we know we can consistently.
“We have done that in spells over the course of this competition and played some really high-level football and showed in those moments that we belong at the level. But you have to do that consistently.”
Carter-Vickers and Maeda trained on Tuesday and Rodgers hopes they can return from recent lay-offs when his side host Hearts in the league on Saturday.
Reo Hatate was training on his own after returning from Japan following the first part of his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury.
The midfielder does not look likely to return before the winter break.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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