Munich, Sept 17: Glasgow Celtic prepare for the Champions League match against Bayern Munich. Celtic have been plagued by problems ahead of their opening Champions League Group A match against Bayern Munich on Wednesday (September 17). The Glasgow club, who won the European Cup in 1967 but are making only their second appearance in the group stage of the Champions League, have had Paul Lambert, Stephen Crainey and Danish defender Ulrik Laursen all sustaining injuries over the past two weeks. Sweden captain Johan Mjallby and English winger Steve Guppy are long-term injuries but striker Chris Sutton could start in a midfield role after serving a five-match domestic suspension. Belgium defender Joos Valgaeren could also feature after recovering from a recent hamstring injury while on-loan Sunderland defender Michael Gray is waiting to make his Celtic debut. Coach Martin O'Neill will be looking for goals from Swedish striker Henrik Larsson and Welshman John Hartson.


Celtic enjoyed a 5-4 aggregate victory over Bundesliga runners-up VfB Stuttgart during their run to last season's UEFA Cup Final but the 1967 European Cup winners expect a tougher time against the German champions.


Probable teams: Bayern Munich: 1-Oliver Kahn; 2-Willy Sagnol, 5-Robert Kovac, 25-Thomas Linke, 3-Bixente Lizarazu; 20-Hasan Salihamidzic, 23-Owen Hargreaves, 13-Michael Ballack, 7-Mehmet Scholl; 14-Claudio Pizarro, 10-Roy Makaay



Celtic: 21-Magnus Hedman; 4-Jackie McNamara, 6-Bobo Balde, 23-Stanislav Varga; 8-Alan Thompson, 17-Didier Agathe, 18-Neil Lennon, 19-Stilian Petrov, 9-Chris Sutton; 10-John Hartson, 7-Henrik Larsson Referee: Massimo De Santis (Italy)


Bureau Report