Good evening and welcome to LIVE coverage of Cliftonville v Celtic LIVE from Belfast in the second round of Champions League qualifiers. Celtic finished last season by winning the Scottish Cup on May 25, but are back in action only eight weeks later against the Northern Irish part-timers in the first of this double header. The Glasgow side need to get through three rounds to reach the group stages for a second successive season. Teams coming right up for you.

Catney with a late, late challenge on Samaras. Samaras then nods over under pressure from the Izaguirre cross.

Tommy Breslin must be happy enough with how his side have started this match. Samaras seemed to be fouled but referee said no.

Celtic forced to clear the ball for a corner after Wilson is caught out. Forster punches away the corner before Commons empties the clearance into the stands.

Samaras continues to feed Forrest as much as possible. Celtic look to keep possession. Stokes fires the shot at distance, but easy enough take for Devlin.

Kayal races forward from deep. Looks for a free-kick after taking a tumble, but the referee is content to wave play on. A hopeful dive perhaps by Kayal.

Wilson rolls the ball back to Forster, who smashes it out of play. Gormley is then flagged offside after setting of too soon.

Samaras showing off his class early on as he slides the ball into the path of Forrest, whose shot from inside the area clears the bar. Celtic look in the mood here.

Commons sees a header come back off the bar from the Forrest cross. Lovely ball into the middle. Celtic so unfortunate not to be ahead.

Wilson penalised for a late foul on Boyce and the home side have a free-kick from 25 yards out. Boyce smashes the ball straight into the wall and Celtic can clear.

Cliftonville get the action off and running then in this one. A gorgeous night for football.

Teams on their way out. Cliftonville in red, Celtic in green-and-white hoops. Certainly plenty of Celtic fans in for this away match on an artificial surface.

"It's fantastic (to be home) for a competitive game, but I'll let you know afterwards," says Neil Lennon, who is without Victor Wanyama after he moved to Southampton in a £12.5 million switch. Gary Hooper is also missing with a £5m move to QPR apparently on the horizon. This is the biggest match in the 134-year history of Cliftonville.

Midfielder Barry Johnston's great uncle Charlie Tully played 319 times for Celtic in the 1940s and 50. He is relishing the prospect of facing his boyhood idols. "I have supported Celtic since I was a kid and Paul McStay was my hero back then. But come kick-off there will be no divided loyalties. I won't be pulling out of tackles or saying 'after you' simply because it's Celtic. I'll be doing everything in my power to secure a positive result for Cliftonville."

Cliftonville manager Tommy Breslin is chasing a huge upset. "Everyone is fit and ready to go, except for long-term injury absentees Chris Scannell and Barry Holland, while Ciaran Donaghy is unavailable as he is just back from honeymoon. We have played in Europe before and had some good performances but to play a world renowned team like Celtic is just beyond belief. Remember just a few months ago they were in the last 16 of the Champions League and beat Barcelona."

Neil Lennon is wary of what the home side have to offer on a plastic pitch and a 5,000 crowd hemmed into their small Belfast ground. "We have to be as professional as we can, quell the home crowd and try to impose our game on them," said Lennon. "We have to be as professional as we can, quell the home crowd and try to impose our game on them. Cliftonville are a good side and we've had them watched."

Georgios Samaras is less than enthused about the prospect of playing on Solitude's plastic pitch when Celtic take on Cliftonville in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday night. Read what the Greece striker has to say about it here. "It is not like natural grass.."

Celtic go with a strong side for their first competitive match of the new season. Captain Scott Brown is in from the start in midfield with Georgios Samaras partnering Anthony Stokes up front for the Scottish champions. Efe Ambrose is posted at the heart of the Celtic defence alongside Kelvin Wilson.

Teams: Cliftonville: Devlin, McGovern, R Scannell, Johnston, Caldwell, McMullan, Garrett, Smyth, Catney, Gormley..subs: Brown, Donnelly, McNeill, O’Carroll, Curran, Cosgrove, Seydak/////Celtic: Forster; Lustig, Wilson, Ambrose, Izaguirre; Commons, Brown, Kayal, Forrest; Stokes, Samaras..subs: Zaluska, Amido, Rogic, Irvine, McGeouch, Waters, Watt