As widely welcomed as UEFA’s new-look Champions League has been, the one enduring criticism of it is a lack of jeopardy.
Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting in the Midlands, Aston Villa and Celtic are both already assured of a place in the play-off round.
While a win for either side could yet propel them into the top eight and see them advance straight to the last 16, coming up just short would hardly be tantamount to disaster.
But a sense of danger will be the only thing likely to be absent from a seismic tussle between two heavyweight former European champions.
The sides have never met before in a competitive environment. For all the influx of foreign players may have slightly diluted what these so-called ‘Battle of Britain’ clashes mean to a dressing room, they are still cherished by supporters.
When the draw was made in late August, the prospect of jousts with German duo RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund and Europa League holders Atalanta was certainly exciting for Celtic supporters. But Villa away was always the one.
John McGinn will be the centre of attention when Celtic travel south to take on Aston Villa
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers was keen on landing McGinn from Hibs back in 2018
McGinn had impressed Rodgers playing for Hibs and was seen as a successor to Scott Brown
It’s 22 seasons since the Parkhead club defeated Blackburn and Liverpool on the road to Seville. These games are burned into the psyche of the club’s supporters. They mean everything.
Whatever this game may lack in terms of a do-or-die edge, it’s certainly not short in eye-catching storylines and sub-plots.
John McGinn’s availability for it has been the subject of intense speculation ever since he tweaked his hamstring against Leicester on January 4. Having returned to play the final 17 minutes of Sunday’s draw with West Ham, tomorrow’s drama will thankfully proceed with its main player front and centre stage.
Brendan Rodgers’ thoughts on McGinn will doubtless be sought when he faces the media today, but his admiration for the midfielder hardly needs explaining.
In the summer of 2018, Rodgers made no secret of his desire to sign the player for Celtic from Hibernian.
The lifelong Celtic supporter moved to Aston Villa instead. Six months later, Rodgers was also breaking for the border and into the arms of Leicester City.
There was clearly more to his abrupt mid-season departure than the club’s failure to land one player. Rightly or wrongly, though, the McGinn episode became viewed as the point where Rodgers and his paymasters no longer saw eye to eye.
The Scotland midfielder has established himself as an elite Premier League performer
McGinn is a huge crowd favourite and played a captain’s role as Villa finished fourth last year
While the timing of Rodgers’ defection back to the English Premier League shocked and angered many Celtic supporters, there was a degree of sympathy with him when it came to McGinn.
The player’s grandfather Jack was a former chairman. The midfielder had demonstrated his attributes consistently throughout his time with St Mirren and Hibs and had become a full Scotland international in 2016. Scott Brown had enjoyed a spectacular renaissance under Rodgers yet was aged 33 that summer and would not go on forever.
Celtic did make Hibs several offers for the player, but failed to reach the asking price of £2.8million.
Given McGinn felt like a real hand-in-glove fit, this appeared to be a huge error. Frankly, even all these years on, it still does.
The story goes that McGinn had been told that Celtic wanted to sign him. He was even warned not to participate in Hibs’ European match away to NSI Runavik of the Faroe Islands as he’d be cup tied. But when nothing materialised, he decided to play.
Ever the professional, he scored in a crazy 6-4 win and initially felt no regrets.
McGinn celebrates scoring against Runavik after refusing to sit the European tie out
Alongside fellow midfielder Jack Grealish, McGinn was instrumental in Villa’s Play-off Final win
‘I believed in myself as a player,’ he recalled. ‘If someone wanted me, they could try a wee bit harder to get me.’
McGinn described the following weeks of mounting speculation as ‘a bit of a sitcom’ but Villa’s swoop was sheer drama.
Then in the Championship under Steve Bruce, the English club turned on the charm, leaving the floodlights on at the stadium then leading the Scot into box seven — his favourite number — to let him survey the scene.
‘The way I was treated was perfect,’ he later explained. ‘Everything about it was class. My dad knew I’d made my mind up.’
The reality was, though, that there was no choice to be made. Celtic hadn’t agreed the fee. Villa had. It was never a case of the head ruling the heart.
McGinn has since spoken about perhaps pulling on the green and white one day. Yet he’s 30 now and Villa have had the very best of him.
He scored the goal which won the play-off final at the end of his first season and hasn’t stopped since. The Holte End adore him and a succession of Villa managers have trusted him.
The Scot’s iconic celebration is a sight to behold… but will it be repeated on Wednesday?
The captain for the past three years, he’s been a constant in Villa’s rise which saw them secure fourth-place in the EPL last season and, with it, a ticket back to the tournament they won famously back in 1982.
McGinn is way beyond the point where he needs to prove anything to anyone. Which is not to say that he won’t relish the chance of reminding Celtic what they allowed to pass them by.
He may not be the only man inside the famous old ground who’s had cause to feel underappreciated at some point in their career.
Rodgers’ accomplishments in football were already considerable at the point when McGinn came onto his radar.
He took unfashionable Swansea to the top flight via the play-offs and kept them there. While title success at Liverpool was not to be in 2014, it was the first time in a generation where the Kop had been able to dream.
Having won back-to-back Trebles at Celtic in his first spell, Rodgers won the FA Cup at Leicester, joining Sir Alex Ferguson as the only men to win the honour on both sides of the border.
Rodgers won the FA Cup with Leicester but found opportunities limited after his departure
He took the Foxes to fifth place twice and guided them to the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time in the 2021-22 Conference League.
With three further trophies in the Parkhead trophy cabinet second time around and Celtic going unbeaten in the Champions League for five matches, Rodgers’ CV is that of an elite coach.
He could be forgiven, though, for wondering why other managers with less success and less experience have become so de rigueur in recent times.
After leaving Leicester towards the end of a forgettable final season, an offer in Saudi Arabia was as good as it got until Celtic came calling again. This seemed incongruous with what he’d achieved in football.
Just turned 52, he’s at his peak as a coach. For all the appeal Celtic unquestionably holds, he’d be eminently capable of bringing success to one of England’s big guns. This feels like an opportune moment to underscore that point. It will be a recurring theme on a dramatic evening.
