Diego Simeone predicts gruelling Celtic battle as Atletico boss prays star man recovers from injury

The La Liga high-fliers romped to their sixth win in a row in all competitions with a 3-0 victory at Celta Vigo.

Diego Simeone has predicted Celtic will give his in-form Atletico Madrid a huge test this week in their Champions League showdown.

The La Liga high-fliers romped to their sixth win in a row in all competitions with a 3-0 victory at Celta Vigo at the weekend, although they were helped when home keeper Ivan Villar was sent off in the 25th minute. French international Antoine Griezmann helped himself to a hat-trick against former Celtic defender Carl Starfelt and Atletico are in ominous form ahead of their trip to Glasgow.

Celtic have not won a home game in the group stages of the Champions League for ten years, but Simeone will treat the Hoops with plenty of respect. And they have a major doubt over Brazilian winger Samuel Lino, after he picked up a knee injury. He said: “We are now thinking about Celtic. We expect a very difficult game on Wednesday. I want us to rest well ahead of the game in Glasgow because we put a lot of effort into this, especially Antoine Griezmann. We thought about resting him, but decided against it. We have always taken it game by game from the very first day I arrived here. And now we only think about Celtic.