The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Hoops to aim high: Davies
Celtic assistant boss insists Scottish champions won’t simply settle for third place battle
Assistant manager Chris Davies insists Celtic will not focus simply on a battle for third place with Anderlecht after they were drawn with the Belgian side, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain in their Champions League group.
The Hoops were bottom seeds in the Monaco draw and on first look it appears that the German giants and the freespending French club are clear favourites to qualify for the knockout stages.
That scenario would leave Brendan Rodgers’ men and Anderlecht looking for a place in the Europa League after Christmas but Davies insists the Scottish champions will aim high.
He said: “We are happy with that. We have two massive challenges there in Bayern and PSG and but obviously Anderlecht are the team that we can look to exploit as well.
“Idon’tthinktheseedingsaretoofaroff. Anderlechtareinpotthreeandtheywould look at us in the same way.
“But what I will say is that with what we can deliver, especially at home and with the way the manager prepares the team, we will certainly go into games confident that we can get results.
“We are certainly not there in any way shape or form to resign ourselves to fighting for third place.
“That’snotwhatyoudoataclublikethis and it is just not how Brendan works. He will have the players working and believing that we can get results and we will see what happens.
“I am confident that we can be in Europe after Christmas, obviously the ultimatedreamforusiscanwequalifyinto the last-16 but being in Europe after Christmas would be a fantastic achievement for us and I am certainly confident we can do that.”
Celtic’s French midfielder Olivier Ntcham was “very happy” about drawing PSG,who recently recruited Brazilian star Neymar from Barcelona.
“I am very excited,” said the 21-year-old, who joined the Glasgow club in the summer from Manchester City. “I said to my friend beforehand that I hoped we would play PSG. It is always good to play against a big player like Neymar.”
Asked if it was a group from which the Hoops could qualify for the knockout stages, he said: “I want to say maybe because everything can happen in football. For me, it is all about Champions League (last-16) qualification because the Europa League is not the same.
“Playing in the Champions League was my first target when I came here so I am very happy. For the fans of Paris, they are going to think it is an easy game for them but in the Champions League we don’t have easy games.”
Left-back Kieran Tierney believes two draws with big-spending Manchester City in last season’s group stages – Celtic’s other point was a draw against Borussia Monchengladbach – will stand the Hoops in good stead this season, especially against the top two seeds in their section.
He said: “You seen what happened last year. Man City are looking to win tournaments like this and we drew with them twice.
“So it gives us confidence. Last year was a first taster for Champions League football for a lot of us and it was a good experience going into this season.
“It is a hard draw but we knew were going to get that. I am looking forward to it. You are always confident, there is no reason why not. We are there for a reason.
“We have done well in the qualifiers to get there so we will go in there confident.
“We will work hard on the training ground and do our best.”