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Both sides have already secured their place in the knockout phase of the competition, but neither are guaranteed to earn direct passage to the last 16. The Villans are well placed to finish in the top eight with victory on Wednesday, while Celtic will need to win and hope results go their way elsewhere on the continent.
It’s the first meeting between two British clubs in this season’s Champions League – although we have seen Rangers face Manchester United and Tottenham in the Europa League – and it’s also the first time that these former European Cup winners will lock horns in a competitive fixture.
Here is 90min’s guide to Villa vs Celtic.
This is the first competitive fixture between Aston Villa and Celtic.
Tyrone Mings added his name to a growing injury list at the weekend after he was withdrawn during the first half of the meeting with West Ham United. Pau Torres is also on the sidelines at centre-back, while Diego Carlos’ January exit means Ezri Konsa is the only senior option in the role. Lucas Digne is likely to fill in on Wednesday.
Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley are both missing in midfield through injury but Villa did see John McGinn return to the fold on Sunday. The midfielder is unlikely to start midweek but will most probably feature in some capacity against a club he faced on 16 occasions during his time in Scotland.
January recruits Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia are ineligible to feature until the knockout phase.
Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Celtic (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Digne, Maatsen; Tielemans, Kamara; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
Celtic have seen star forward Kyogo Furuhashi complete his move to French side Rennes, finishing his Bhoys career with 86 goals in 167 matches. Jota has gone in the other …
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