JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, the Barcelona president, believes that when Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive “talks, you should listen”.
Celtic have been concerned regarding proposals to alter the format of the UEFA Champions League, with the bigger clubs looking to create a system of entry that always favours the elite teams.
Bartomeu has spoken earlier this year of a wildcard entry system that would enable prestigious teams who did not perform well domestically to still qualify for the Champions League – with fears that an entry could come at the expense of a provincial placed club.
Celtic qualified for the Champions League this season as one of five countries from middle-tiered nations who emerged from the champions route, but there will be one less place up for grabs from 2018.
From then the new format will automatically give four places to the top four nations – Spain, England, Germany and Italy – giving rise to fears that Europe’s premier competition could become a closed shop to teams such as Celtic, who are based in much less prestigious domestic leagues.
Lawwell has been pro-active in ensuring that any changes which are implemented are done so with Celtic still guaranteed a part of it.
The Parkhead side are expected to bank between £25m and £30m for their involvement in this season’s Champions League, figures that are imperative to the club given the paucity of domestic revenues.
“I know Peter well,” said Bartomeu. “He is one of the best sports leaders in European football – and I do not say that lightly. He is quite incredible.
"I know him through my work on the ECA [European Club Association] board so I see him often at meetings where we discuss.
“When Peter talks, you should listen. He always speaks with a keen intelligence. He knows business, but he also understands football and how football works.
“I am not a member of the Celtic board, obviously. But if I was then I would go forward with confidence because he is a man who knows everyone in European football.
"That knowledge and expertise must give Celtic so much confidence as a club. He understands the landscape but he is also able to speak well and represent the interests of his own club.”
A number of leagues have expressed frustration with the increasing polarisation of wealth in European football, while the likes of Bayern Munich’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has warned that changes are necessary to avoid a breakaway from UEFA by elite clubs.
The new changes, however, will also see a change in how the current co-efficient is calculated with clubs set to be judged on their own records, removing the country share for co-efficients.
Effectively, that means that Scottish champions from 2018 will be unaffected if other teams from the Scottish Premiership fail to progress. There will also be consideration given to historical achievements on the Continent. It means Scotland’s champions won’t be hampered if other clubs from the country fail to progress in European competition.
Historical success will also be taken into account, meaning Celtic’s European Cup win in 1967 will boost their credentials if they are the country’s champions.
And Bartomeu has maintained that he has always regarded Celtic as one of the key players in European circles.
“I would see Celtic as one of the elite clubs,” added the Camp Nou president. “They are a club who have a strong history with European football; they have a pedigree. There is a lot of weight behind Celtic’s name. It is a reputation that was established through the way they played football and the support they got because of that.
“I understand that there is some apprehension about the proposed changes, but we would very much see clubs like Celtic as being a part of it.”
Bartomeu also maintained that there is more than just fluff when Barcelona players rave about the atmosphere at Celtic Park. Lionel Messi once claimed that the stadium was his favourite to play in throughout Europe because of the atmosphere it generated.
The clubs have met nine times in the Champions League and, while there is always a feeling that talk of the noise and energy at Celtic Park can be overplayed to the point of sounding patronising, Bartomeu has insisted such sentiments are genuine.
“In our club and in our city there is excitement when Barcelona play Celtic. The players talk of playing at Celtic Park as one of the real great adventures in their football lives.
“This is not just for show. There is a feeling that Glasgow Celtic is one of the great names in European football and so many of our players are supporters talk highly of going to play in Glasgow.”
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