Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland at Celtic Park

It’s never a great sign when opposing players spend time pre-match taking snaps of each other. Then again, it would take some turnaround for FK Sarajevo to cause an upset, so why not enjoy it?

FK Sarajevo’s chance surely came in the opening half hour at home when, for a very brief spell, Celtic looked in a bother. They found the required answer to make tonight comfortable.

A positive start would likely end the contest and deliver a confidence boosting run-out for the fans to enjoy as harder challenges start to emerge on the horizon.

Olivier Ntcham should be available next week, so who will Celtic be playing if they complete the job this evening?

A trip to sweltering Macedonia looked likely after a 1-0 first leg win for Shkendija at Nomme Kalju but the Estonians pulled off a 2-1 victory on their travels last night, scoring the decisive goal in stoppage time to secure their passage on away goals.

Celtic would play the first leg at home next Wednesday before the return in Tallinn on 30 July.

Remember, the Scottish champions must negotiate four rounds of qualifying to reach the group stage.

Olivier Ntcham is not involved this evening since he has only just returned to training after playing for France at the European Under-21 Championship.

Manager Neil Lennon has had one of those clear-the-air conversations with the midfielder after an interview in L'Equipe quoted the player saying he was disappointed that a move to Porto did not materialise last summer, that he was flattered by a link with Marseille and claiming Scottish football was not testing enough.

"He was disappointed with the way it came across, that wasn't his intention," said Lennon. "We have had a nice chat, a private chat, and it's not an issue now."

Image source, SNS

Sarajevo coach Husref Musemic makes one change to his starting line-up, with midfielder Benjamin Tatar replacing Halid Sabanovic, with the Bosnia-Herzegovina Under-21 right-back dropping to the bench.

Striker Haris Handzic, who scored six goals in 25 appearances last season, is fit enough to return to the squad but only makes the bench.

Bojan Letic, a left-back recruited this month from Czech top-flight club Karvina, was unable to travel, while another new signing, former Krupa goalkeeper Matej Markovic, was signed too late to be eligible.

Image source, Getty Images

Celtic were a bit shaky to start with on a rainy night in Sarajevo and Mirko Oremus took advantage of some poor defending from a corner to slam in the opening goal on 29 minutes last week.

However, the visitors hit back in style with Mikey Johnston hammering in a glorious strike to level soon after.

Neil Lennon's side took control of the tie early in the second half when Odsonne Edouard completed a slick passing move with a composed finish and Scott Sinclair added a cute back-heel late on.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Celtic: Bain, Ajer, Bitton, Simunovic, Bolingoli, Forrest, Brown, Christie, McGregor, Morgan, Edouard.

Substitutes: Gordon, Jullien, Griffiths, Sinclair, Hayes, Henderson, Ralston.

Sarajevo: Kovacevic, Hebibovic, Serbecic, Lazic, Hodzic, Rahmanovic, Oremus, Velkoski, Tatar, Ahmetovic, Milanovic.

Substitues: Dizdarevic, Sabanovic, Sisic, Dokanovic, Guzina, Kurdic, Haris Handzic.

Referee: Alain Durieux (Luxembourg)

John Hughes
Former Hibernian manager on Sportsound

Of course, Kieran Tierney is among the Celtic absentees this evening as the full-back continues his rehab from a summer hernia operation.

Arsenal are sniffing about, with two bids rejected already, while Lazio have been linked with the 22-year-old.

He's under contract until 2023 and manager Neil Lennon does not want to lose him.

Will Tierney still be at Celtic Park by the end of the transfer window?

Sarajevo head coach Husref Musemic hopes his side can sustain the level they reached in the first-half of the opening leg, when they took an early lead, over the whole 90 minutes.

"Teams like Celtic penalise every mistake and so it was," he said. "We gave away naive goals and I hope we learned something."

Image source, BBC Sport

Celtic manager Neil Lennon was pleased with his side's comeback win in Bosnia & Herzegovina and wants more of the same this evening.

"We need to go out and try to win the game and don't be complacent, and show Sarajevo the respect we showed them in the first leg," he said at yesterday's media conference.

"It was a good game from our point of view, we played well, and we can't take any opposition lightly in this competition.

"While it's a good lead, it's not over yet. It's another step forward in terms of getting a game under our belt and hopefully we can be sharper and fitter."

Image source, BBC Sport

Celtic missed out on a third successive Champions League group stage campaign last season, falling at the third qualifying hurdle to AEK Athens.

Their home record in these games is strong, with the last defeat coming against Maribor of Slovenia five years ago.

Image source, BBC Sport

There was a nasty surprise for St Johnstone last night as Tommy Wright's men came unstuck at Montrose in the League Cup.

Top flight sides Hamilton and St Mirren are in action tonight and both need to improve on their opening games in the competition since Accies drew with Queen's Park at the weekend and the Paisley side were rolled over at home by Dunfermline.

All of this evening's games kick off at 19:45.

Group C

Stirling Albion v Arbroath

Group D

Cove Rangers v Dundee

Group F

Clyde v Hamilton Academical

Group H

Dunfermline v Albion Rovers

St Mirren v Edinburgh City

Pat Bonner
Former Celtic goalkeeper on BBC Sportsound

Mikey Johnston, who scored a fantastic equaliser in the first leg, misses out through injury, so his place goes to Lewis Morgan, with Scott Sinclair again among the substitutes.

Boli Bolingoli has recovered from an minor ankle injury, while Nir Bitton continues in central defence.

Celtic: Bain, Ajer, Simunovic, Bitton, Bolingoli, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Christie, Sinclair, Edouard.

Substitutes: Gordon, Griffiths, Jullien, Ralston, Hayes, Henderson, Sinclair.

Image source, SNS

Fans will be nice and relaxed as they head along to the game this evening since Celtic take a 3-1 lead into the home leg of their Champions League first qualifying round tie.

Sarajevo showed early glimpses of menace on the break last week but looked rather bedraggled once they let their lead slip.

Celtic can't afford to think the job is already done but this should be a routine outing for the Scottish champions on the road to sterner tests in this competition.

Image source, SNS