FORMER Celtic manager Neil Lennon believes they are ready for Wednesday's Champions League play-off, but warns that Hapoel Be'er Sheva will provide a stern test.
Brendan Rodgers' side have already negotiated two qualifying rounds, against Lincoln Red Imps and Astana, to reach the final two-legged tie before the group stages.
The Hoops welcome Israeli champions Be'er Sheva to Celtic Park tomorrow night before the return leg next Tuesday seals their fate.
Lennon oversaw some memorable European nights during his four seasons in charge of the Bhoys, including a win against Barcelona in 2012/13 when they reached the last 16.
Ronny Deila fell at this stage in both of his two seasons in charge at Parkhead, but Lennon is confident his compatriot Rodgers has prepared the team well for what he describes as Celtic's 'biggest games of the season.'
Lennon told BBC Scotland: "I think Brendan knows what's at stake. It sets the whole season up brilliantly.
"I have spoken to him about it personally. I said, 'Look, these are your biggest games of the season'.
"The build-up is awful - it's just like a Celtic-Rangers game. But once the game's underway, it's great.
"They are awful to negotiate. You don't know who you're going to get, you don't know if the players are ready yet.
"I think the Celtic players are up to speed now, judging by the performances of late.
"Knowing you're going back in [to the group stage] and what it means to the club and all those big games to look forward to, it's special.
"They've got a tough draw. I've signed an Israeli goalkeeper [Ofir Marciano]. I asked him about Hapoel, he said, 'They're a very good side'.
"I think Celtic will need to take something from Glasgow to there to protect because I think they're a good side at home.
"Olympiacos - they've been regular last-16 campaigners over a number of years so if it can happen to them, it can happen to anyone."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here