Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes will have one last viewing of Celtic tonight but the Dons manager is not expecting the Hoops to suffer from taking on the might of Barcelona.
McInnes and his assistant Tony Docherty will watch Brendan Rodgers’ side take on Barca in the Champions League in what will be the ultimate physical test for the Celtic players ahead of Sunday’s Betfred Cup final against the Dons at Hampden.
It promises to be an energy-sapping night for the Celtic players against Lionel Messi and company but McInnes is not convinced tonight’s glamour tie will be a factor come the first major final of the Scottish season on Sunday.
He said: “I don’t think we need to but I’d like to go. even if we didn’t have the cup final it’s a game I’d like to see. Tony and I will go but I am not expecting to gain too much. But it will be a good game to watch and take in.
“I am not sure it will have any bearing on the final. We could all sit down and write Brendan’s strongest team if everyone is fit and ready to go. But there might be some fallout from the game.
“But we cannot go into the game hoping Celtic are not quite at it. That would be foolish and naive. If Celtic go and win it or get a positive result against Barcelona they will go flying into Hampden on the back of that.
“If they lose they will recognise another game is around the corner as it normally is for a club like Celtic and they have a cup final to deal with. We are not expecting anything other than a tough opponent on Sunday but they should expect something similar from us.”
While Rodgers hopes his players come through unscathed tonight, the Dons manager is reporting a clean bill of health at Pittodrie.
McInnes will take his squad to St Andrews today to prepare for the final and he believes his side has hit form at just the right time.
He said: “There’s nothing like a cup final to get players out of the treatment room.
“We have got players in good form, we are winning games and are in a good place going to Hampden.
“The last couple of performances have been good with two tough away matches against teams in form in Partick and Inverness.
“We managed to deal with both of them, we’re scoring goals and playing well as individuals and as a team.
“We’re in form but whether that is an advantage then we’ll see, but it doesn’t do us any harm.”