MALMO manager Age Hareide last night delivered another snub to Celtic by insisting Malmo's last opponents Red Bull Salzburg are better than the Scottish champions.

The Norwegian claimed at the end of last season his side were superior to his countryman Ronny Deila's men. Now he's followed that up by stressing that Austrain big-spenders Red Bull – who were eliminated by Malmo in the last round after the Swedes completed a superb comeback with a 3-0 home win when they were 2-0 down after the first leg – are a stronger outfit than the Glasgow side.

And he believes they will face a bigger challenge dealing with the Parkhead atmosphere than the Celtic players during the first leg of their Champions League qualifying play-off tomorrow.

Hareide said: "Celtic are a good team but Salzburg are actually better.

"We have every respect for Celtic. But the truth is Salzburg are better and showed it in the Europa League last year too.

"It is based on my purely football-related assessment. It is not because we meet Celtic or that I’ll talk s*** about them. It will be a completely different experience than Salzburg.

"The pressure comes more from the stands at Parkhead than on the pitch.

"It can be difficult to communicate with the players so we need to be alert. But I think our team is set up well for this type of game.

"I had a whole Sunday with Celtic. I saw four of their matches. It’s probably my strength, to find out tactics against different opponents. I create and check the details and I have a good picture of them now."

Hareide did however reveal that he's a student of the great Celtic sides of the 1960s and also pinpointed Parkhead winger James Forrest as their main threat.

The Swedish champions arrive in Glasgow today for the vital first leg against Celtic, with a prize in the group stages for the winners of the qualifying ties.

Former Norway boss Hareide has a huge amount of respect for Celtic as a club and admitted he loved watching the Lisbon Lions.

However, after spying on Celtic last week at Kilmarnock, he's urged his men to keep a close eye on wide man Forrest and even compared to him to Ibrox legend Willie Johnston.

He said: "When I was watching the Kilmarnock v Celtic game last week, I was fascinated by the winger Forrest.

"He looked like a good old Scottish winger, with pace and flair. He reminds me of Willie Johnston who played at West Brom.

"He's that type of player with quick feet. He's more of a winger than a midfielder – he's a throwback. Scotland always produce players with flair, who are quick and technical.

"I've followed Celtic from the early days, I'm that old. I remember Jimmy Johnstone and the team who won the European Cup.

"I watched the final against Inter Milan when I was young. Jimmy was a fantastic player and I remember the names – Bobby Murdoch, Bobby Lennox, Billy McNeill, then later Danny McGrain. All of them were top players of European standard back then.

"For me, Scotland have always produced very good players. When I was in England in the 80s, the Scotland team were better than the English.

"The Scots played at the World Cup's in 74, 78 and 82. They had guys like Dalglish, Souness, Gemmill, Hartford. They've always produced good attacking players.

"I met Scotland twice when I was Norway manager so I know all about them. We're practically related to the Scots!"

And Hareide revealed he gained his strong bond with the Scots, after being surrounded by them when he was a player at Manchester City and Norwich City.

He said: "Scottish football fascinates me because I think there is a lot of potential in the players there. In the 80s in England, there were a lot of Scots. They're grafters and they're reliable.

"Asa Hartford is a close friend of mine from our days at Manchester City. I see a lot of him and I've invited him to the game in Glasgow against Celtic.

"I played with a few Scots while I was in England. Down there we'd play five-a-sides – it was the rest of the world v England. So I was with the Scots, along with Martin O'Neill! We had a good team.

"Since Ronny Deila has come to Celtic it has strengthened the Scandinavian relationship with Celtic. It started with Henrik Larsson and from there Celtic have had a lot of followers over here.

"I've never had the chance to manage there. I've only ever really looked at Scandinavia and I've talked with some English Championship clubs.

“But never Scotland. Aside from Rangers and Celtic, there is only really Aberdeen and they had a Dane in Ebbe Skovdahl. I went to Brondby as manager when he left for Aberdeen."

However, Hareide admits he's also worried about a countryman tomorrow at Parkhead, after revealing he's been hugely impressed with midfielder Stefan Johansen.

He said: "I know him well. He's worked really hard at Celtic and he's established himself both there and with the Norway national team. He works so hard and is so important for Celtic and Norway. If he stays fit and doesn't have any injuries, he can go onto be a top, top player."