Group G leaders Bayer Leverkusen can seal their passage into the knockout phase as group winners on Thursday evening when they welcome Celtic to the BayArena, with the Scottish side still in with a chance of top spot themselves.
Leverkusen’s 4-0 win in Glasgow back in September laid down the foundations for what has been a near-perfect group stage so far, with a 4-0 win over Real Betis last time out another highlight. Sitting on ten points from a possible 12, their three point gap over Betis in second, in addition to their superior head-to-head record, means a win will leave them unassailable at the top.
After a shaky run which started with a 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich here, Leverkusen have picked up again, with their last three games yielding two wins and a draw. Celtic, meanwhile, have not lost a game since the reverse fixture, and a double-header against Ferencvaros allowed them to get some points on the board before the tougher challenges present themselves in the final two matches.
Form in Scotland has not been a reliable measurement for success in Europe in recent years, and despite Celtic’s good run, a result here looks unlikely, but they have scored 19 in their last nine games.