Marc Rieper sees the club he loves take on a team from his homeland in Celtic’s UEFA Champions League second qualifying round encounter against FC Midtjylland.

The tie, of course, marks Ange Postecoglou’s first competitive fixture at Paradise, and the former Denmark internationalist is well aware of the challenge the visitors pose.

What can Celtic expect from tonight’s first-leg?

It’s going be a very tight game. Celtic are maybe not at the same strength as they were a few years ago, and Midtjylland will have been very disappointed not to have won the Danish league last season. They were well ahead on several occasions but lost on the last day to Brondby. Last year, I think they had the best side in Denmark by a mile but they just seemed to slip up every time the others slipped up too. They should have won it comfortably with the team they have, players with international experience all over the park. They’ve got a really strong side, but just didn’t perform last year – a bit like Celtic during last season. They’ve got some great players. Celtic fans know their captain Erik Sviatchenko really well and he played really well last year. They’ve got some adventurous players too, who perhaps didn’t perform quite as well as they would have liked.

Celtic faced Copenhagen last season – is there anything they can learn from that match?

Midtjylland are a very different team from Copenhagen, so I wouldn’t say there is too much Celtic can glean from their ties last year. Copenhagen are aggressive in their play, they sit deep when they defend, but I’d say Midtjylland are more focused on playing a passing game, playing more open, pressing high up the pitch – all of which goes in your favour when you’re confident and playing well. Last season, this wasn’t the case for Midtjylland, that was a shame from their perspective and it cost them an automatic UEFA Champions League place. But that’s the way it goes. They’ve got a new coach in Bo Henriksen, who has a fantastic love and passion for the game and he has real tactical awareness himself and within those around him. He’s a lovely fellow, but also a really fiery guy, and I think you’ll see that when he runs up and down the touchline during the match. He’s a bit of an experiment for Midtjylland, but I think he could do well. He was the manager at Horsens for a number of years, which is a lower club in Denmark. He did really well during his six years there, but he was also not under any real pressure – and he’ll have that from day one at Midtjylland, both in the league and in Europe. That’s going to be the most interesting part of it – if he can convert his enthusiastic nature on to the players, the team and the way they play, then they’re going to be strong this year.

You’ve played in front of the Paradise faithful – how much have they been missed?

Denmark and Scotland are quite similar in that you can’t restrain how passionate the fans are. They are so passionate that it’s almost insane, and they love the football and the players in equal measure and support them in a way that I’ve never experienced before. The fans are very important. Whenever I come to Glasgow, and remember it’s been over 20 years since I played there, and fans still take care of me. It’s a pleasure to have been part of that back then, and, for me, the fans are by far the biggest part of Celtic’s success throughout their history. I think that without the fans in the stadium, that has played a huge part in how things went for Celtic last year. Without fans in the ground it’s just not the same. The intimidation you get from that as an opponent, that’s quite frightening. They are one of kind!

Ex-Celt Marc Rieper with the lowdown tonight’s opposition