An away draw in the Champions League should not be sniffed at, especially with Celtic’s recent record in the competition.
Brendan Rodgers successfully negotiated a brilliant Celtic draw in Atalanta after the Parkhead club’s humbling in Dortmund.
And whilst we can all admit that Celtic’s performance in Zagreb wasn’t the best, there was a time not so long ago when this game would probably have been lost.
Reacting to the result, Ally McCoist was interviewing Celtic hero, Paul Lambert, for his thoughts on the result when the former Rangers man had to admit something about the Bhoys in the Champions League this season.
Ally McCoist impressed with Celtic in Champions League after Dinamo Zagreb draw
McCoist told talkSPORT, “I’ve got to say to you Paul, before we get onto Villa, I said to Alan [Brazil] this morning first thing, you always expect them at home they’ll get results.
“They’ll certainly perform up to a standard on the European nights. But Dortmund aside, I’ve got to say, mate, a really important couple of clean sheets, obviously, that last night and in Italy as well. That’s just as important, isn’t it?”
As much as Celtic fans will hate to admit agreeing with McCoist, the talkSPORT host is correct. A clean sheet used to be unheard of for Celtic in away Champions League ties.
Now with two, this shows the progression of the team against Europe’s elite teams and that’s something that Lambert agrees with as well.
Paul Lambert’s verdict on Celtic qualifying from Champions League phase
Lambert replied, “Oh, it’s massive. I think if you pick up points away from home, you tend to find you are right in the mix and that’s what they are starting to do now.
And I think they’re learning, although I’m not sure you get that learning time so the lads have done really well in the last couple of away games. So I think I think that’s key for them.
“I think they’ll qualify for that playoff place. I don’t think there will be any problem with that. It’s after that where it goes.”
With two games left to play, Celtic are firmly in the driving seat to get out the league phase via a play-off place.
With Celtic’s next fixture against Young Boys up next at Celtic Park, if the Hoops can negotiate a win, then a least an unseeded place is guaranteed.
Anything else picked up against Aston Villa will be a bonus and depending on how the results go in the rest of the last two fixtures, then an automatic qualification place is not exactly out of Celtic’s reach.
