The Wolverhampton Wanderers manager says that Celtic will find it hard to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League this season.
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Paul Lambert has told The Glasgow Evening Times that it will be hard for Celtic to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League this season.
Celtic are playing in the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition this campaign after a two-year absence.
The Bhoys are currently at the foot of Group C with just two points from four matches.
The Glasgow giants are two points behind third-placed Borussia Monchengladbach and five behind second-placed Manchester City.
Lambert, who played for the Bhoys from 1997 until 2005, believes that Brendan Rodgers’s side will struggle to advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League this season.
The former Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers boss, though, believes that the Hoops have shown progress in Europe.
“They’ve done alright in Europe,” Lambert told The Glasgow Evening Times. “It’s going to be hard for them to qualify, of course, but they got a really tough group.
“When you are in the Champions League you have to double your efforts from your domestic games. It’s a big step up.
“I was over in Germany when they played Gladbach, who are in a good team. They are mid-table in the Bundesliga but that’s a much stronger league than the Scottish Premiership. But Celtic fans will have seen progress in Europe, in the hardest group in the Champions League.”
Celtic are at the top of the Scottish Premiership table at the moment with 31 points from 11 matches. The Glasgow giants are 10 points clear of second-placed Aberdeen with a game in hand.
The Hoops will return to action on Friday evening when they take on Kilmarnock away from home at Rugby Park in the Scottish Premiership.
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