UWCL Dreaming: Celtic vs Vorskla Poltava
Celtic have drawn the lowest ranked seeded team in the Champions Path, with the home game coming second on the 26 September. Time to start dreaming?
No Scottish team has made it to the UWCL proper since 2019-20 when Glasgow City were knocked out in the quarter finals by beaten finalists Wolfsburg. Celtic are now dreaming of changing that, with a first ever appearance in the group stage on the cards for the Glasgow club.
Who are Vorskla Poltava?
Founded in 2007 as Zhytlobud-2 Kharkiv, Vorskla Poltava are a Ukrainian side based in the city of Poltava. Winners of five league titles and three Ukrainian Cups, Vorskla are one of the most successful sides in the county. Last season’s league title went their way after a dominant season that saw them lose just once in 21 games, conceding only five goals in the process. They are on track to repeat that feat this year having not dropped a single point in their first four, with 13 scored and none conceded.
They boast a squad full of international pedigree with an Armenian, a Kazakhstani, and a host of Ukrainian internationals representing them. In fact, of the 23 internationals called up for Ukraine’s EUROs qualifiers versus Kosovo and Croatia: ten represented the side that Celtic will face later this month. One of those, Nicole Kozlova, will be very familiar to fans of the SWPL as the forward moved to Glasgow City in the summer transfer window.
In qualifying they ran riot against Riga, winning 5-0. 19-year-old forward Viktoriia Radionova (incredible name) marking the day with a brace and putting her name on Ukraine manager Volodymyr Pyatenko’s watchlist. They followed that up with a professional 2-0 win over Ferencvaros to secure their spot in the second round. Ukraine national team defender Kateryna Korsun adding to her brace in the previous round to make it three in two games (on top of the two in three she’s scored in Nations League B). Caitlin Hayes, eat your heart out.
They play their regular home games at the Oleksiy Butovskyi Vorskla Stadium, however, over the last two years these have been moved for the UWCL due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. It has been confirmed that Celtic’s “away” fixture will be played on the 22 September at the Albert Bartlett Stadium in Airdrie.
So, You’re Telling me There’s a Chance?
Celtic will be well aware of their own struggles to get going this season. Elena Sadiku has a problem to solve with an attack that hasn’t quite started firing and a system that has seen Caitlin Hayes take 15 shots, only hitting the target twice (and more worryingly, scoring none). However as the UWCL campaign has shown so far, when the chips are down they have been able to lift themselves up.
Added to that Vorskla Poltava have knocked out Scottish opposition before, a 1-1 draw with Hibernian in 2017-18 ending their qualification dreams in the old round robin mini-group system. Added to that, history has seen SWPL teams have a very poor record at this round of qualifying; Servette knocking out City 3-2 in 21-22, Rangers losing 5-3 to Benfica in 22-23, and then Glasgow City conceding 6 without reply to Brann last season. And added to that, the Ukrainian league is ranked as the 11th best in Europe by UEFA’s coefficients (SWPL is 22nd, but first in our hearts)…
But, yes, we are saying there is a good chance of Celtic coming out on top in this one. Vorskla Poltava have only qualified for the UWCL proper once, beating Bosnia’s SFK 2000 to get there in 20-21, and were the lowest ranked seeded team available. Celtic also have the benefit of home advantage for the crucial second leg. If you had given Elena Sadiku free reign to choose the perfect draw, this would likely have been it. The only thing that would make it perfect-er? Record crowds.
Despite Celtic Park being empty between the 22nd September and the 19th October, both fixtures are set to be held at the Albert Bartlett Stadium in Airdrie. With a capacity of just over 10,000 it can’t break the record for a competitive women’s football match in Scotland, but it can absolutely break Celtic’s record home attendance for a non-Celtic Park game. With history on the horizon, this is not one to miss.
On the injury front, they will miss Chloe Craig who suffered an ACL injury in training before their UWCL campaign kicked off, and the timeline for Luana Munoz’ return is unknown after her comeback was cut short by a hip injury. With Bruna and Richardson ready to step in in defence, and McAneny if it is a real emergency, they are well equipped to deal with those absentees.
180 minutes separate Celtic from the bright lights of European football. Those final 90 minutes coming with a home crowd cheering them on. Dreams turning into reality.