THE HUNGER GAMES

Lustig: Rosenborg are desperare to make group stages again.. but Celtic are too!

MIKAEL LUSTIG knows all about living up to the ghosts of the past at Celtic. But before he ever walked in the giant footsteps of the Lisbon Lions in European football, he tried – and failed – to live up to Rosenborg royalty. Now he’s hoping that burden still weighs down the Norwegian champions. The Hoops face a side on Wednesday night who once held the record for the most consecutive Champions League group stage appearances, reaching eight on the bounce between 1995 and 2003 under legendary coach Nils Arne Eggen en route to a total of 11 in the space of 13 years. A decade on, they haven’t been back – but the expectation burns on. And Lustig, who arrived in Trondheim in the summer of 2008 at the start of their Euro slide, knows it can be a curse as well as a motivation. The Swede said: “There’s no doubt they’re the best team i n Norway but they have struggled in Europe in recent years. “It has been a while since they were fixtures in the group stage of the Champions League. When you play in a team who have a really good history it makes it hard, especially when they are different times. “It can be a great thing to play with a club with a strong history, who have a good fan base and play regularly in the Champions League. “But it is hard to live up to it. I tried twice at Rosenborg in my three-and-a-half years there and we were really close once, losing on away goals in the play-off round to Copenhagen. But it’s even harder now. “Back then if they won the Norwegian league they went right into the groups or had one qualifier. But now they have four qualifying rounds. “And the fact the fans still expect it makes it a little bit hard for the players. “They’re still the biggest club in Norway and they still have to win the league or it’s a big disappointment. “It makes the Champions League a massive thing for them. “But they weren’t even in the Europa League groups last season so they really need this now. They’re hungry for it but hopefully we can stop them.” We need to be at our best and hopefully we can take advantage of the fact we’re at home first.”

Rosenborg are still the biggest club in Norway and they are hungry to make group stages