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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

Atletico Madrid handed Nahuel Molina boost ahead of Celtic Champions League showdown

World Cup winner Nahuel Molina has received the all-clear to play against Celtic next week in the Champions League as the Atletico Madrid defender recovered from injury.

Celtic play the La Liga giants next week as they aim to try and get their first points in the group stages after defeats to Feyenoord and Lazio.

Molina is widely regarded as one of the best right backs in the world after helping his country to triumph in Qatar.

He played in all six games and scored the opening goal against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals which Argentina won on penalties.

But he was sidelined with a thigh strain for his country's World Cup qualification win over Peru during the week and rated a major doubt for the game in Glasgow on Wednesday.

However, Atletico have now given him the green light to return to training and he was named in their squad list for their weekend game at Celta Vigo.

In-form Atletico are aiming for their fifth La Liga win in a row at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Steven Naismith has responded to Brendan Rodgers regarding Celtic's allocation for the visit of Hearts this Sunday.

The Scottish Champions have been handed just over 500 tickets for the clash and Rodgers admits he is saddened there will not be many away supporters inside Tynecastle.

In response, Naismith said today: "Celtic will have their view, just like we have our view with what we get when we go to away grounds.

"Over the last five or six years, the momentum has been building for the club in general, whether that be with the new stand being built, the backing the club have got or the foundation of the fans taking control of the club.

"All the optimism comes with creating a bigger following and, first and foremost, we need to look after our fans and give them the opportunity to support us.

"As a country, we can look around at other leagues and see the way things are done. There are so many aspects of the game in Scotland that we can improve.

"But every club is looking out for themselves and rightly so, to give their fans the best opportunity to watch their team."

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