Celtic kickstarted their Champions League adventure with a dominant 5-1 victory over Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava - and now rivals Rangers will be looking to follow suit in their Europa League opener at reigning Swedish champions Malmo. The Light Blues finished top of the group in last season’s competition and will once again be targeting progression to the knockout stage as they adapt to a brand new European format which sees them play two extra games and an incredible eight opponents between September and January. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to GlasgowWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Glamour ties against the likes of Lyon, Steaua Bucharest, Olympiacos, Nice, Tottenham, Manchester United and Belgians Union Saint-Gilloise all await the Ibrox side, in what promises to be a demanding run of games for Philippe Clement’s side. However, in-form striker Cyriel Dessers has urged players and supporters to relish the challenge of a ‘beautiful draw’ and admits that he cannot wait for the competition to get underway. Speaking ahead of the trip to Sweden, Dessers, who has seven goals in nine matches for Rangers this term, told Mail Sport : ”I think we have a very beautiful but very difficult draw.
” Malmo boast a record of just one defeat in eight matches against Scottish teams - in a run stretching back to 2011. Advertisement Advertisement However, the Nigerian forward is confident his team can put an end to that barren run. He added: ”Malmo away is not an easy start, but these are the games you want to play when you’re playing in Europe.
“I think (the win over Dundee) can give us some confidence, a boost, and hopefully we can have a good performance there as well and hopefully win.” Two of Europe’s most noisy fan bases will collide at the Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday 1 October as Celtic make the trip to face a Borussia Dortmund team that will be backed by their vociferous yellow wall. Dortmund went all the way to last season’s Champions League final last term and boast a squad of high quality throughout the pitch.
However, a 5-1 defeat to VFB Stuttgart at the weekend will make Celtic fans increasingly hopeful that they can register an upset in Germany. Advertisement Advertisement Celtic have been renowned for their defensive solidity throughout the campaign, but one player that’s unlikely to be involved in the next European clash is defensive lynchpin Cameron Carter-Vickers, who has sustained a metatarsal injury, according to Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers told Football Scotland : “Cam has been suffering a wee bit with his metatarsal, below his big toe.
We gave it a little bit of a period earlier on, a few weeks back, and he was okay. “He's got a little bit sore, obviously playing back-to-back games, which is why we've given him today free. So, we'll just assess that and see how that is later in the week.
" However, right-back Alistair Johnston is making good progress ahead of the Borussia Dortmund clash and is expected to begin training later this week as he pushes to return from a back injury..
