FINAL Celtic are back in the Champions League group stages. Helsingborgs proved to be tough opposition in both matches but Celtic buried their chances while Age Hareide's men failed to bring the ball into Forster's net. Joy and happiness at Celtic Park, which will host three Champions League matches once again. Neil Lennon, who was on the verge of walking away in October when his team were losing 3-0 against Kilmarnock, has lead now Celtic back where they belong. Enjoy your night Bhoys See you on Celtic's next SPL match against Hibernian.
90+3' Celtic looking for the third. Brown assists James Forrest and he shoots... too powerful, it's over the bar. Final whistle.
90' Party time now at Celtic Park while both sets of players wait for the final whistle.
89' Bedoya volleys a ball coming from a Celtic's player's head. Off target. Paddy McCourt is in to replace Gary Hooper. Celtic Park is in full voice now.
88' GOOOOOOOAAAAAL!!!!!!!! THE BHOOOY FROM KENYAAAAA! VICTOR WANYAMA HEADS CELTIC TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS. Commons plays delivers and the Kenyan heads the ball into the net. Tie over.
87' What a terrific play from Celtic!! Brown shoots from the edge of the box, Hansson parries the ball and Watt shots from close range. It's a corner, great save from Hansson!
85' Nordmark ball goes over the wall... and over the bar. Joy for the home fans, Celtic are just edging towards the Champions League.
84' Foul for Helsingborgs, just in front of the box, slightly in the left. Good position for a right-footed player. Wilson is shown a yellow card and Djurdjic receives one too.
83' Some quick play by the Swedes and Bedoya shoots! Just to see Forster save the ball again. He gets in a good position again later but his pass can't find anyone. Mulgrew clears the ball.
82' Forster collects easily a ball coming from a corner. Lustig starts a nice run but his pass finds Hooper who is (again) offside.
80' Nordmark has replaced Atta. Celtic are in posession. Forrest shots from distance with his left foot and it hits the post!!! What a cracker! Hooper is offside then and it's danger over for Helsingborgs.
78' Atta goes out of the pitch. He looks injured. Commons is ready to take a costless kick. The Swedes fail to get danger off their area. Tony Watt heads the ball softly and Hansson finishes Celtic move with an easy save.
76' Mikael Lustig replaces Adam Matthews.
74' Good work from Tony Watt on the right wing, his cross doesn't find anyone but ... Lindstrom replaces Wahlstedt.
71' Throw in for Celtic after a promising counter was cleared by the Swedes. They are in possession and will look for a hole in Helsingborgs' defense.
69' Georgios Samaras, who assisted two goals and scored one, is replaced by Tony Watt.
68' Helsingborgs look for a glimmer of hope, but Celtic are closing down their attacking players well.
67' Samaras is penalised for a deliberate handball. On the touchline, Tony Watt is ready to get on.
65' Commons gets himself in trouble, he is rounded by three players, but he nutmegs a defender and gets a foul in a promising position. His cross from the costless kick is headed back by Mulgrew but the visitors rush the danger away.
62' Accam fouls Izaguirre seconds after entering the pitch. He is shown a yellow card.
61' Sorum is replaced by David Accam.
58' Celtic have given the ball to Helsingborg, but they might punish the Swedes on the counter... Helsingborgs aren't troubling the Celtic defense despite having more posession.
55' Mahlangu is given some space and tries a shot from distance. Forster saves well.
52' Corner for Helsingborg after some good work by Andersson. What a chance for Helsingborg! Djurdjic manages to shoot from close range but hits the net on the wrong side.
50' Brown gives away a costless-kick. Uronen takes it and gives Forster some work. Accurate shot but the Englishman makes a good save. The Swedes fail to create any danger from the following corner.
48' Celtic look comfortable in possession while the visitors chase the ball. They are giving the ball away easily too.
46' The Swedish champions get the game underway. They will look to save their European season in 45 minutes. Hard task.
HALF TIME Celtic are in a privileged position to get themselves among Europe's elite, not without suffering, though. They gave to much space to Helsingborgs during the opening stages of the match and they nearly got punished for it. Had Bedoya been more inspired we could have been talking about a whole diferent situation for Celtic. Despite this, they managed to get ahead after converting one of their few chances, after that they controlled the game well and got themselves into dangerous positions. Samaras has been the star performer for the hosts while James Forrest looks really dangerous once he's got a bit of space ahead of him. Helsingborgs need a quick goal if they want to be back in the tie and the clock will be running against them during the second half. Let's see what happens in the second half, but Celtic look Champions League bound right now.
45' Andersson controls well and Matthews fouls him. He receives a deserved yellow card. Costless kick from the at the left edge of the area. Andersson's ball is poor and Celtic are in possession now. Samaras runs 30 yards until a defender tackles him. Throw-in Celtic. It's half time now.
43' Corner for Helsingborg. Scott Brown heads the ball away. Great clearance from the Scottish international.
42' Samaras is everywhere, beating players on his own and creating space for his teammates. He is failing to deliver a good final ball though.
40' Celtic are passing the ball well now. A massive pressure has been taken off their shoulders with Hooper's goal and their game has improved since then. Forrest plays a one-two with Samaras but the visitors' defense clears.
38' A replay shows that Hooper was JUST onside.
36' The crowd are enjoying themselves now. Celtic get a corner after good pressure from Hooper. Wanyama heads it but no one is able to shoot on target.
34' Helsingborgs are back in possession. Uphill task for them as they are 3 goals down in the tie now.
30' GOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!! CELTIC SCOOOOOOOREEEEEEEE! IT'S HOOOOOPEEEERR. After a cross coming from the right, Samaras assists Hooper who poaches the ball home. He looked inches offside, but replays show that he was in a correct position. Key decision for Velasco Carballo and the assistant referee there.
28' Samaras crosses from the left hand side. Hansson parries the ball away to corner.
26' Forrest evades all the defenders that come over him and he goes down in the penalty area. He claims Buffo fouled him, but the Spanish referee waves the game on.
23' Forrest dances around the Swedish area and assists Samaras, his move is aborted by a Helsingborgs' defender. Celtic are trying to press the visitors at the back. That's how Commons' goal came in Sweden.
20' Great move by Celtic there. Samaras runs down the left flank and creates himself a chance by dribbling to Helsingborgs' players. His shot is easily saved by Hansson though. Celtic's best chance.
19' The home crowd keeps singing, but their time has failed to give them something back so far. Neither keeper has been forced to make a save at the moment.
16' Celtic need to improve their passing game if they don't want to have a nervy game tonight. Helsingborgs quick passing is leaving some of their midfield players with lots of space to create chances.
14' Izaguirre gives away possession and Bedoya gets in a clear position to shoot. Luckily for the hosts, the former Rangers midfielder fails to bury his chance.
13' Celtic's possessions haven't lasted a lot in this opening stages. Meanwhile, Wilson tackles well to disposess a Swedish striker who was in the Celtic box.
12' Djurdjic shoots from distance... but he will have to do better than that if he wants to give the visitors some hope.
10' The Swedes are slowly getting the game's control. No creativity from the home side, they prefer to sit deep and look for a counterattack to kill the tie.
8' Andersson runs down the left wing and Mulgrew clearss his cross. Throw-in for the Swedes. They are still in possession and send another cross, Wanyama sends the ball to a corner. Andersson takes it and no danger for Celtic.
7' He is back now. Helsingborgs look to get into attacking positions now, Celtic rush the ball forward.
6' Baffo looks in trouble, some ankle pain after a clash with Gary Hooper one minute ago.
4' Matthew's long pass from behind is too powerful for James Forrest. Goal kick for the Swedes.
3' Celtic are trying to attack from the left-hand side. The same one they played in to score the opening goal in Sweden. Brown shoots from distance and it's over the bar. The captain and Wanyama are both returning today to Celtic's first XI.
2' A good tackle by Commons gives the crowd something to cheer for. Both teams are trying to have the ball in their power.
1' And we are underway!! YNWA and the Champions League anthem are left behind. The game starts!! Celtic have the first possession of this game while Parkhead roars.
19:45. Great welcome to both teams, it looks like a full house at Parkhead tonight. Bring on the game! Great sporting spirit in Glasgow right now, let's hope that we can see a great footballing show.
19:42. Let's remind that Celtic could get their hands into a +10 million pounds jackpot if they get to the CL group stages. A much-needed massive money boost, in sporting terms, the Celts need European football to restore some reputation for the Scottish game in Europe.There are lots of questions to be answered tonight.
19:34. Commons will play alongside Hooper and will try to find good shooting positions in the "hole" position.
19:31. Both teams will play with a 4-4-2 tonight. Helsingborgs caused lots of problems to Celtic in the first leg, unforced mistakes by Mulgrew and Matthews nearly caused a disaster. The Bhoys should attempt to avoid these tonight, the first goal will be the key. A Celtic goal would almost kill the tie, while a goal coming from the Swedes would give them lots of hope. Kelvin Wilson will replace Thomas Rogne after the Norwegian failed to recover from a recurring injury. The introduction of James Forrest at the right-hand side of Celtic's midfield will no doubt create problems to Age Hareide. The Scot was one of Celtic's most dangerous players in Sweden. His pace and his dribbling gives Neil Lennon lots of options in attack.
19:25. The starting minutes will be key tonight. Celtic have failed to score in the opening half of their two official games at Parkhead this season. They didn't concede a goal neither against Helsinki and Aberdeen.
19:22. Age Hareide is confident that his team can shock Celtic, however, he had some good words for the Celts.
“This is one of the best places to play football. I hope the players enjoy the fans. These are the best fans in Europe, this is why football will survive. Football needs fans like these."
“We need to save football from all the financial problems. There are teams who are involved in financial doping matters."
“They have so much money they can buy whoever they want instead of bringing up their own players. You have a club down the road in Glasgow that’s suffered.”
19:10. Helsingborgs IF lineup will be: P Hansson,Wahlstedt,Sadiku,Atta,Uronen; Bedoya, Gashi, Mahlangu, C Andersson;Sörum, Djurdjic.
19:01. Celtic will use a classic 4-4-2 formation tonight. These are the chosen players to lead Celtic, once again, into Europe's elite competition: Forster; Matthews, Wilson, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Forrest, Brown, Wanyama, Samaras; Commons, Hooper.
19:00. Good evening ladies and gentlemen, Bhoys and girls. After some years of suffering, after some years of disappointments, humiliations and stunning knocking outs , Celtic look to restore some pride in Europe.by qualifying for the Champions League group stages for the first time in four years. They have had to beat HJK Helsinki and are on the verge of beating Helsingborgs IF. Despite the fine result obtained in the first leg, Age Hareide refuses to walk away. The Norwegian manager thinks that an opening goal at Celtic Park would disturb the hosts and help their team find their way back to the driving seat they lost at home. Neil Lennon's men are in front of one of the most important games in their careers. Let's see if they start writing some story tonight. Stay tuned with us!