Scott Sinclair hopeful Celtic can still reach Champions League knockout stages

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Celtic face Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday night.

Celtic winger Scott Sinclair has told the club’s official website that the Hoops have not given up hope of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League this season.

The Bhoys go into Tuesday’s game with Borussia Monchengladbach knowing that a defeat in Germany would all but end their hopes of remaining in Europe.

Celtic’s Craig Gordon and Kolo Toure after Borussia Monchengladbach’s Andre Hahn’s goal in the first game between the two sides

Following the 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park against Gladbach in their previous European outing, the Hoops are bottom of their group and could be five points adrift at the bottom with two games to go if they suffer another loss.

Nevertheless, Sinclair is adamant that Celtic can still join one of either Monchengladbach, Manchester City or Barcelona in the next stage of the competition, and that they are not yet willing to set their sights on qualifying for the Europa League.

Celtic’s Scott Sinclair in action with Hapoel Be’er-Sheva’s Ben Bitton

“For the fans and everyone involved in Celtic we want to stay in Europe. We are not just here to make up the numbers, we want to progress in the Champions League and if we don’t, the worst case is we want to be in the Europa League,” he told the club’s official website.

“At the moment we’re trying to stay in the competition and progress in the Champions League and if we get a result tomorrow then we have two games and hopefully we can progress.”

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers

With both the Hoops and Monchengladbach coming up against City and Barca in their final two group games, they will know that Tuesday’s result could have major implications as any further points will arguably feel like gold dust.

And while Sinclair’s target to remain in the Champions League may seem incredibly ambitious, a win in Germany would leave Brendan Rodgers’ men on four points, which would leave them level with City should they lose to the Catalan giants once again.

And with Pep Guardiola’s men losing that aura of invincibility since their draw with Celtic in September, while the Hoops have history of surprising Barcelona at Parkhead, there is perhaps some hope that the Bhoys could pull off one of the most remarkable turnarounds in the competition’s recent history.