After an entertaining five-goal encounter at Parkhead, these two sides will contest the second leg in Sweden on Tuesday evening to determine which one of them will advance through to the group stages of the Champions League.
Visiting Celtic currently hold the numerical advantage as far as the scoreline is concerned, but with two away goals to their name, Malmo are bound to fancy their chances of overturning the deficit.
Malmo
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Jo Inge Berget hardly kicked a ball during his six-month loan stint with Celtic in 2014, yet his brace in the first leg could end up being hugely significant come the final whistle in Sweden.
Having been sent to Scotland by his parent club Cardiff City, where he had struggled to establish himself in the English Premier League, the winger did not fare any better in the green and white hooped shirt. He made only eight appearances and scored two goals before he returned to Wales.
However, having signed for Malmo at the turn of the year, the 24-year-old has seemingly developed a clinical touch in front of goal - as Celtic can now testify. His second goal last week came in stoppage time and it has altered the entire complexion of the upcoming clash at the Swedbank Stadion.
Domestically, last season's champions have struggled to replicate that title-winning form and they currently sit fifth in the latest Allsvenskan standings, seven points adrift of leaders Gothenburg.
Any chance of battling for the big prize was arguably ended on Saturday when Age Hareide's men suffered a 1-0 defeat away at Hacken thanks to a 78th-minute strike from substitute Martin Ericsson.
On the flip side, Malmo's home record in UEFA qualifying games has been almost impeccable of late. Not only have they not lost any of their last 11 matches at the Swedbank - winning seven and drawing four - they have also not conceded a goal in any of their previous nine outings.
Recent form: LDWLWL
Recent form (all competitions): DWWWLL
Celtic
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As the clock ticked beyond 90 minutes, Ronny Deila would have been reasonably content with the 3-1 victory that his side had appeared to have collected from the opening leg. Yet, although the tie remains in Celtic's hands - win or draw and they qualify - that late Berget goal will have added to the nerves.
One thing that Deila is going to have to ensure is that his side do not react to recent comments made by Malmo goalkeeper Johan Wiland, who branded Celtic players "pigs" and "children" in the wake of the first meeting.
When asked for his take on Wiland's assessment, Deila responded: "Lions. We are lions. I've watched the game again and I didn't see anything wrong. It was a fair game and remarks like that are just too low-level to comment on.
"It's not the Celtic way to do that - it's up to them if they want to talk about us. We will not go to that level. The motivation for this game is no problem. I don't think we need any extra comments to do that."
Something else that will need to be high on Deila's agenda will be how to arrest Celtic's recent away form in continental contests. Prior to beating Stjarnan in the previous qualifying round, the Bhoys had failed to win on any of their previous seven trips.
They prepared for this particular clash in positive fashion, though, thanks to a 3-1 victory away at Dundee United at the weekend.
Recent form: LWWWDW
Recent form (all competitions): DWDWWW
Team News
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With this encounter in the forefront of his mind, Deila made nine changes to his starting lineup for Saturday's clash at Tannadice Park.
It is expected that many of those that were left out will return in Sweden, although it will be interesting to see if Virgil van Dijk is included in the team.
The centre-back has been strongly linked with Southampton recently and the fact that he was left out of the squad against Dundee United completely raised a few eyebrows, although Celtic have since insisted that there was nothing untoward in that decision.
Up front Leigh Griffiths, who scored twice in the first leg, should lead the attack, while Craig Gordon will return between the posts.
As for the home side, Ghanaian midfielder Enoch Kofi Adu is available for selection following suspension, with ex-Manchester Untied trainee Magnus Wolff Eikrem tipped to feature in an advanced midfield role.
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Wiland; Tinnerholm, Arnason, Bengtsson, Yotun; Rodic, Adu, Rakip, Berget; Eikrem, Djurdjic
Celtic possible starting lineup:
Gordon; Lustig, Boyata, Van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; Forrest, Johansen, Armstrong; Griffiths
Head To Head
Last week's meeting was the first between these two clubs.
However, Celtic have made two previous trips to Sweden and avoided defeat on both occasions. In 2012 Kris Commons was on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win over Helsingborgs, while a year later a 0-0 draw was played out with Elfsborg. If they can extend that unbeaten sequence to three matches, Deila's charges will advance through.
As for Malmo, they faced Celtic's bitter rivals Rangers at home in 2011 - a game that ended in a 1-1 draw. They also took on Hibs in 2013 and ran out 9-0 winners on aggregate.
We say: Malmo 2-1 Celtic
That extremely late goal from Berget felt like a sucker punch for Celtic and that could well be the case in Sweden. There is not much between these two sides, but taking Celtic's away record in Europe into consideration, it would not be a surprise if the hosts edged through on the away goals rule.
Liam Apicella
