Stu’s still dreaming of spot in next stage
STUART Armstrong is refusing to give up hope that Celtic can pip Bayern Munich for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Scottish champions have shipped eight goals without reply against PSG and Bayern, the two giants of Group B, but a win on Tuesday night would move them level on points with the Bavarian giants with two matches remaining.
“If we can win on Tuesday night then I don’t see why second place can’t be achievable at all,” said Armstrong.
“We have to aim as high as possible. We do not want to put a label on where we want to end up.”
Injury concerns for both teams are mounting up. While Bayern could be without Thomas Muller, James Rodriguez, Franck Ribery, Juan Bernat and captain Manuel Neuer, Celtic saw Patrick Roberts join injured defenders Jozo Simunovic, Erik Sviatchenko and Tony Ralston in the treatment room. Olivier Ntcham is a doubt after rolling his ankle.
“I am sure they have very good replacements,” said Armstrong.
“Whoever they play, we are under no illusions that they are a fantastic team but without belief you have nothing so we have to believe that we can get something.
“Certainly there is an advantage in being at home with the fans,” he added.
“And in certain aspects of the game I don’t think we did ourselves justice in Munich, maybe losing the ball too cheaply and not looking after it as we would have liked.
“It is always difficult – you can get it back quicker domestically when you lose it but playing against top European teams you have to work that bit harder to get it back.
“We will need to be more careful in our possession.”