Celtic qualified for the knockout stage of the Europa League.
Football pundit and former Liverpool star Stan Collymore has told Scott Alcroft at CQN that he believes Celtic can reach the later stages of the Europa League, if they get a bit of luck.
The Hoops qualified for the round of 32 of the Europa League after finishing in third in Group B of the Champions League alongside Anderlecht, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have been handed a tricky draw, which sees them face Roberto Mancini’s Zenit St. Petersburg. The first leg takes place on Parkhead on February 15 before the Hoops travel to Russia a week later.
Collymore is confident that Celtic can knock Zenit out of the competition and continue in their pursuit of European glory by continuing through the rounds until the final stages.
“Nothing to fear, still plenty of very good teams in there like Arsenal; will they continue to play a second string team?” Collymore asked.
“But there’s no teams remotely resembling the quality of PSG, Barca or Man City, so with a little luck, plenty of confidence and that fantastic Paradise support I can’t see any reason why latter stages isn’t a possibility.”
The Hoops enter the European competition after Christmas alongside the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal and Napoli, as well as minnows such as FK Ostersund, FC Copenhagen and AEK Athens.
Celtic could have certainly got a tougher draw but they will have to be at their very best to beat a side boasting the likes of Branislav Ivanovic, Domenico Criscito and Aleksandr Kokorin.
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