Celtic fans are once again on their travels and an away trip to Germany provides the perfect opportunity for a few high quality beers. Borussia Monchengladbach welcome Celtic on Tuesday evening for what the German newspaper Bild have called a ‘Europe-final’, given the importance of the match to both teams.
After Gladbach won 2-0 at Celtic Park in the Glasgow match, Brendan Rodgers will be hoping for some kind of revenge this evening. As for Celtic’s fans, they seem to be concentrating on having fun.
Germany’s RP reports that 1000 supporters were out in the old town of Dusseldorf on Monday night, and it went largely peacefully.
Fans gathered around bars in the Hunsrückenstraße and RP says a police source told them that whilst there was some trouble, it certainly wasn’t on a large scale. The police are upping their preparations in advance of more fans expected on Tuesday.
Chants from the Celtic fans could be heard around the old town.
#Celtic in Düsseldorf! pic.twitter.com/I19UovQRXo
— Boom.Jackson (@Tily1895) October 31, 2016
RP goes on to report that up to 6000 travelling Celtic fans are expected to arrive, despite there being only 2500 tickets available to fans of the Glasgow club. It’s stated that those who have already arrived have already shown that they can party.
Hundreds of police have been drafted in to prevent any serious trouble breaking out, but there’s no suggestion that the ramping up is anything Celtic specific.
In recent years, there’s been a worrying rise of football related trouble in Germany, organised fights, and troubling situations both within stadiums and outside, which will obviously mean the local authorities are more alert to any potential dangers.
The local media are carrying many photographs of Celtic fans singing in bars last night and there’s a few videos doing the rounds too.
Schaukel. Düsseldorf. Celtic. Geil. #bmgcfc pic.twitter.com/D0ZgrwfJmm
— André Schahidi (@derSchahidi) October 31, 2016
