Gruj game for Bhoys
STRICT Serbian whistler Danilo Grujic will officiate Celtic’s Champions League bow in Armenia.
And the last time he took charge of game involving a Scottish team, he booked nine players, sent another off and awarded three penalties.
The 42-year-old has been on the UEFA list for six years and took charge of Scotland Under 19s’ 5-4 defeat to Norway in March.
Grujic was also in charge of Aberdeen’s 1-0 win over Ventspils in 2016. IT’S the time of year when everything gets a bit tense for Celtic on the continent but Callum McGregor reckons it’s the rest of Europe who should be fearing a French invasion.
The Hoops are embarking on the annual nerve-shredding journey towards the Champions League but the midfielder is feeling a little less stress with Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard leading the charge.
Last season Celts had to face Rosenborg without a striker as Dembele and Leigh Griffiths were crocked and suspended.
While James Forrest was a handy stand-in hero, McGregor is glad to avoid similar stress this time around.
Griff might be toiling but Edouard and his Parisian pal are firing on all cylinders. The pair of them ripped a shadow Shamrock Rovers side to ribbons in a 7-0 win at the weekend.
And even if the opposition was modest, the combination of the two up front was bursting with potential.
It was noticed on a couple of occasions last term as well, especially when they linked up to bag 10-man Celts a famous win at Ibrox.
Dembele is fully fit and in menacing mood while Edouard doesn’t appear to be getting weighed down by his £9million record transfer tag following his permanent switch from PSG.
McGregor’s sleeping a little easier knowing those two will be a handful for any side in Europe – with Alashkert the first in the firing line in tomorrow’s first leg in Armenia.
McGregor said: “Odsonne and Moussa are great. When you see those two playing together, they have a real knack of knowing each other’s games.
“They have pace, power and they’re a hard two for anyone trying to defend against them.
“We know if we get the ball up to that pair as quickly as possible, they will do their thing.
“Playing in midfield behind them you have so many options.
“You can spin one in behind them, play it to feet and go again. It’s a great platform for the midfield boys to play off. You can run beyond them as well because you know they’re going to hold it up and give you something work with.
“It’s great to have that kind of firepower up front. With those two there at the top of the pitch, you’ve always got a chance of scoring.
“And that is something we’re trying to work on again this season, scoring more goals.
“When you see those two up front it puts the fear into teams because they have power, pace, angles, everything.”
Dembele was his usual self in Dublin on Saturday but it was Edouard who had the bit between his teeth.
The France Under-20s star was crazy keen to make an impact and his second goal in the rout was sensational as he nutmegged his man before almost removing the net from the rigging.
McGregor nabbed a couple as well – including one nicked off Dembele at close range – while Scott Sinclair notched late on and Lewis Morgan opened his Celtic account with a superb solo run and slick finish.
Confidence boosted – now down to the real stuff. McGregor has been over the course a few times now and is not going into these qualifiers with his eyes shut.
There are a few familiar names lying in wait but he won’t look past Alashkert just yet. Long flights, baking hot temperatures, dodgy pitches and hungry opposition – McGregor’s seen and done it and collected a fair few well-worn T-shirts.
He said: “It’s not so much a trip into the unknown now. When