Celtic exit no shock to Laszlo

Csaba Laszlo reckons shellshocked Celtic underestimated Ferencvaros – and has tipped their Hungarian conquerors to go on and take the Champions League by storm.

Former Hearts and Dundee United gaffer Laszlo, who managed Ferencvaros from 2004-2005, fancied his old club to triumph in Glasgow – and insists it didn’t come as a surprise to him.

Laszlo said: “This is not a surprise to me.

“I actually think Celtic underestimated Ferencvaros. It’s a dangerous thing to do.

“On paper, Celtic would have been favourites due to their resources and the size of the club.

“But it’s a different story when you get out there on the pitch especially with no crowd inside Parkhead.

“I’m really proud of my former team. It’s a very nice victory for them and they obviously did their homework. They’ve been growing in the past 10 years so this is a culmination of all their hard work.

“Now I can see progressing still further and doing well in the group stages. I feel Celtic will turn out to be their hardest qualifying tie.”

Laszlo believes Celtic didn’t learn from the previous season when they were eliminated at the hands of Cluj.

He said: “Cluj showed last season that the biggest problem is Celtic’s defence. If you think back to Cluj, Celtic gave away bad goals that night as well.

“I think Celtic made a mistake by playing without a striker. To have two strikers on the bench I didn’t understand.

“Football in Eastern Europe is strong just now so they deserve a lot of respect.”