With the Hearts game out of the way, Celtic’s attention has turned to their Champions League opener against Bratislava on Wednesday night.
But their rivals face a major uncertainty ahead of their trip to Glasgow.
Slovan Bratislava’s preparations for their Champions League group stage debut against Celtic have been disrupted as their manager, Vladimir Weiss, battles a severe virus.
Weiss has missed his team’s last two matches.
The veteran coach’s health remains uncertain, casting doubts over his ability to travel with the team to Glasgow for the upcoming fixture.
Assistant manager Boris Kitka has stepped in during Weiss’s absence, guiding Slovan to victories. Speaking about Weiss’s condition, Kitka shared “Vlado has had a pretty bad virus for the last few days, almost since the beginning of the week. We hope that he will get better as soon as possible. He has been unwell for the last three to four days, he had a high temperature and the weather is not ideal either, he stayed at home.” [Sport]
It would be less than ideal for Wednesday’s opponents if they had to travel without their manager, but at least for them they’ve had a few games in the same situation.
Brendan Rodgers won’t be worrying about the situation too much.
After ending last season’s campaign on a win, which saw Celtic win at home for the first time in a decade in the competition, he’ll be looking to start the new format with a win.
Celtic are at a better place heading into this year’s competition than they were last year, so hopefully, they can put that to use.
