MIGHTY MAGYARS

What to expect from Ferencvaros ahead

TOMORROW night, Hungarian champions Ferencvaros will come to Celtic Park looking to halt the Glasgow club’s Champions League ambitions for another season.

While not the force they once were in European football, Fradi will offer a far sterner test than Icelandic league winners KR Reykjavik and the home side will need to be firing on all cylinders if they are to progress to the next round.

But just who are Ferencvaros and what threat do they pose to Celtic’s European aspirations?

Similar to Celtic, Ferencvaros’ best days in Europe came in the 1960s and early 70s when the club won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1965 against

Juventus, before losing two further European finals in the following decade.

Since then Fradi, as they are commonly known, have fallen from their once lofty position as a powerhouse of the European game, and have failed to make a credible or sustained impact in Europe since their heyday over 50 years ago.

The arrival of Ukraine legend Sergei Rebrov as head coach in 2018 has, however, resulted in an upturn in fortunes for the Budapest club, with two successive NB1 titles secured as well as a reputation restoring campaign in last season’s Europa League.

Ferencvaros come to

Glasgow as slight underdogs; however, they have happy memories of their last visit to Scotland back in 2004 when, under the guidance of Csaba Laszlo – who went on to manage Dundee United – Fradi emerged victorious at Murrayfield, beating Hearts 1-0 in the Europa League.

Ferencvaros are behind Celtic in terms of competitive match practice this season having played only two fixtures so far; the league opener away to city rivals MTK and last week’s first-round qualifier against Djurgarden.

The forwards have a bit more freedom and Celtic will have to be on their toes to keep them at bay