Many of Europe’s big guns will want to avoid Celtic in the draw
CELTIC and Liverpool both achieved fantastic results in the first leg of their Champions League play-off ties.
Brendan Rodgers must be absolutely ecstatic to have watched his team win 5-0 at home to Astana. The away leg should now be nothing more than a formality.
His only concern will be returning from Kazakhstan without any suspensions for the group stages or any injuries to his players.
Liverpool face a tougher test when they take on Hoffenheim at Anfield on Wednesday night.
But to win 2-1 over in Germany was as good as anyone could have wished for. It is now set to complete the task with a favourable outcome.
Of course, with both my former teams in the same competition, and providing it all goes to plan this midweek, it would be fantastic to see them drawn together in the same group on Thursday morning.
Brendan and Steven Gerrard discussed that possibility on TV after Celtic’s win over Astana, and I would be delighted if that turned out to be the case.
There is a first-class relationship between the clubs, and mutual respect and admiration between both sets of supporters.
Add the connection with Brendan into the mix and it all adds to the occasion and intrigue of it all.
But there are many permutations to consider, and the odds of being in the same section would be very, very high.
Celtic will more than likely be in Pot Four when the draw is made, but there is a chance they could be moved up to Pot Three. That would be a huge bonus for them.
Regardless, of the pot they are in, I think Celtic will do very well in this season’s competition. I’m fairly certain most clubs would rather avoid them.
There will be definitely be others that the clubs in Pot One and Pot Two would want before Celtic.
For sure, Brendan and his team will not be disrespected. They deserve to be in club football’s premier competition.
The Celtic manager has said he is looking to add one or two players to his squad before the transfer window closes, and that should only improve his squad if he gets the ones in he wants.
They will also be the better for last season’s experience in the Champions League.
Yes, they finished bottom of their section, but they had it tough against Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
To be truthful, I think they were unfortunate to finish bottom because they played some really good football and scored some great goals.
Indeed their performance at home to Manchester City in the 3-3 draw was, arguably, their most-impressive 90 minutes of the season.
We will wait and see what the draw brings, but Celtic can go into it with confidence.
The 5-0 win against Astana shows what they can do at home and they deserve praise for their patience and for the way they broke down their opponents time after time, albeit two of the goals came from deflections.
Sure, Astana were far from the finished article and they were poor on the night.
Their coach, Stanimir Stoilov, talked a good game in the build-up but he couldn’t deliver on his promises. However, Celtic can only beat what is put in front of them.
It goes without saying there will be a step up in class in the final 32, but there will be nothing to fear. I feel they will do very well. The team is improving all the time and younger players such as Kieran Tierney, Jozo Simunovic, James Forrest, Callum McGregor, Tom Rogic and Leigh Griffiths will all be the better for the qualifying rounds the club has had to go through in the past five weeks.
It’s not been an easy schedule and they deserve enormous credit for negotiating it.
I will keep an eye on their result on Tuesday, but I’m not anticipating any problems. Then, 24 hours later, I will be at Anfield to watch Jurgen Klopp and his players get over that final hurdle against Hoffenheim.
A 2-1 advantage is a lovely position to be in, but let’s not forget the calibre of the opposition.
The German team will be tough and they had chances to score more than one in the first leg. Simon Mignolet also saved a penalty.
So there will be no complacency and I’m positive that a focused and organised display from Liverpool will get them back into the Champions League.
Last season they were unfortunate in Europe because they played some really good football