Celtic start off their UEFA Europa League campaign against French opposition, Rennes at the Roazhon Park Stadium tomorrow. The two teams have been placed in Group E along with Lazio and Cluj.
There has been massive speculation and chaos surrounding the players who are expected to start in this crucial fixture for Neil Lennon & Co. A fascinating topic of discussion has been the left-back spot which has been occupied by Mbombo lately.
The Belgian defender started in Celtic’s recent win over Hamilton in the Scottish Premiership. However, the 4th Official feels that it is not a move that should be repeated for a fixture of a very high magnitude against Rennes. The French opposition have started the season on cloud-nine and only trail Ligue 1 toppers, Paris Saint Germain by two points.
There are no doubts over the spirited performances Mbombo has put it. However, summer recruit, Greg Taylor would seem to be a better match in the starting eleven against Rennes.
Grey Taylor has a more defensive approach as compared to Mbombo, who is very keen on attacking down the left flank as well. It is expected that the Bhoys would want to be extremely cautious when they take on their French opposition in their own den on Thursday evening.
Rennes can cause a lot of trouble to the Celtic defence while attacking, and Neil Lennon would want to ensure that there are no lapses in the defensive aspects of his team. Therefore, deploying Greg Taylor in the left-back position instead of Mbombo could turn out to be the perfect explanation of the saying, “Precaution is better than cure”.
For this situation, there would be no ‘cure’ if Celtic start their UEFA Europa League campaign on a miserable note. It might be a considerable gamble to hand Greg Taylor his debut in a game of such importance. However, it does seem like a gamble that would not disappoint and actually yield results.
