NEIL Lennon believes Celtic are capable of going all the way to the Europa League final - if they can overcome Zenit St Petersburg in the second leg of their last 32 tie on Thursday.
Brendan Rodgers has dismissed the Glasgow club’s chances of emulating their memorable run in the 2002/2003 UEFA Cup this season.
However, the Scottish champions outclassed their Russian rivals at Parkhead last week and take a 1-0 lead into the match in the Krestovsky Stadium.
Lennon, the Hibernian manager who was a key member of the Martin O’Neill team that reached Seville, is convinced Celtic can go through to the last 16 and then progress even further.
Asked if Celtic could go all the way, Lennon said: “Why not? There are still some very good teams still in there, Napoli, Atletico Madrid, Leipzig, Villarreal, strong teams.
“But the more you progress you get a sniff of it, the juices and instinct kick in but get past Zenit first, that’s a big ask.”
Lennon was Celtic manager when they defeat Spartak Moscow 3-2 in the group stages of the Champions League back in 2012 – a result which went a long way towards helping them secure a place in the knockout stages of Europe’s premier club competition.
He is confident Rodgers’s team, who dominated the first leg tie last week and won thanks to a late Callum McGregor goal, can defeat Robert Mancini’s side away and go through.
“I think Russian teams at times can be a bit soul-less. I didn’t expect Zenit to travel well and at home. I expect them to be a different proposition, but there’s no reason why Celtic can’t go there and score.
“Even in home game, when we beat them 2-1, after five minutes I felt we had them. On Thursday Zenit had one opportunity. (Dorus) De Vries made the save, but after that they lacked an intensity to the game.
“Look at the goal. Their centre-half was half-hearted when Dembele has gone in-side him. I expect them to be a different animal but Celtic have given themselves an opportunity which is fantastic.
“The result on Thursday was tremendous from their point of view with the injuries and the quality of opposition they were playing and the level of performance, They are going to need all that again on Thursday, but Brendan will know that.
“I think it’s brilliant to take a 1-0 lead there. I wouldn’t say Celtic were favourites but they have an advantage there’s no question of that. But it’s difficult, away in Europe it’s difficult.”
If Celtic do overcome Zenit and go through the last 16 of the Europa League then Lennon believes it will make it easier for Aberdeen, Rangers and possibly even his Hibs team to challenge them in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Rangers moved to within nine points of their city rivals on Sunday as they beat Hamilton 5-2 away and the league leaders were held to a 0-0 draw by St. Johnstone at home.
Asked if Celtic staying in the Europa League could make it easier for other clubs to catch them, Lennon said: “Possibly. All of a sudden you are further down the line in the Europa League and that becomes very exciting for the players and Celtic.
“Celtic have a nine point cushion and that means Celtic would have to lose three and Rangers Aberdeen have to win all their games to catch them. It’s a tall order. But it makes it interesting.
“If Celtic were to go out of Europe there would be no catching them. Maybe if they keep going in the Europa League Brendan might use his squad, but he’s been dec-imated by injuries as well. Brendan wanted to use his squad over this run of games. He has definitely prioritised Zenit on Thursday.”
Celtic ended the season trophyless after reaching the UEFA Cup final in Seville in 2003 and Rangers suffered the same when they got to the UEFA Cup final in Manchester in 2008.
But Lennon said: “I think the teams were a lot closer then, there’s still a gap between Celtic and the rest. If you look at 2003 there was an abundance of quality in both teams.
“I still expect Celtic to go on and win the league comfortably. But if they’ve got one eye on Europe, there may be an opportunity to make inroads. But it’s going to take a hell of a run for somebody to really put a shoulder on Celtic at the minute. The battle for second, third, fourth is very interesting."
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel