GERMANY is the economic powerhouse of Europe and on the evidence of the last 16 of the Champions League, that teutonic stranglehold also applies to football on the Continent.

Of the seven group winners Celtic could face in the next round of Europe's premier club competition, three – Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke – operate in the Bundesliga, which translates to a 43% chance of German opposition arriving in Glasgow in late February.

Mikael Lustig is an expert witness of the German football scene – having seen their emerging generation of stars in person as Sweden played host to the 2009 European Under-21 Championships, he also scored as Sweden came from four goals down to salvage a 4-4 draw against the senior German team last month – and doesn't like those odds much. For the record, the side he and his team-mates shocked that night in Berlin included Dortmund's Marco Reus and Mario Gotze, Schalke's Benedikt Howedes, and a seven-strong Bayern contingent which included Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Philip Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

"I know the German teams well," said Lustig. "I think at the moment they are the best in the world, maybe with Barcelona and Real Madrid. When you see Dortmund against Manchester City and Real Madrid, what stands out is their speed and technique and their power. They have got everything and the German league is just getting better and better. Their stadiums are almost full for domestic games and Champions League and they have a great amount of players who came through the Under-21s. When Germany won the tournament in Sweden they had players like [Mesut] Ozil, [Sami] Khedira and many others. In that drawn game, I remember playing against Reus. For the first 60 minutes we never got near to their best players. At times it felt like they had 22 players against our 11. So, they have really young players in the best of their game right now."

Lustig was a boyhood Juventus fan so given the choice would rather come up against the Turin giants in the next round, though the cast list of group winners potentially in the Parkhead club's path is led by Paris St Germain – the 15 points which the big spending French side accrued was more than anyone else – and completed by Manchester United and Malaga. Alongside world-class talents such as Argentinian playmaker Javier Pastore and Brazilian centre-half Thiago Silva, Paris is the current home of Lustig's international team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic. "I know him [Ibrahimovic] well, so I would tell the guys about him," said Lustig. "Of course, Zlatan is really big friends with Henrik Larsson, so he knows a lot about Celtic as well. But then I think there are now a lot of players out there now who know about Celtic and the fans."

Lustig has become a quiet hero of this Celtic team, having arrived surreptitiously from Rosenborg just before the Old Firm game at Parkhead almost a year ago. Following a couple of months nursing his tired limbs after the end of the Norwegian season, he gradually made his way to prominence and his watchful defending and rapier thrusts from the back have made him indispensable. Considering Celtic were trailing Rangers by double figures when he alighted in Scotland, and his new manager Neil Lennon was under serious pressure, the team's fortunes have taken quite an upturn during Lustig's stay. "When I signed my contract we were 12 or 15 points behind Rangers so this has been dramatic, an amazing year. Of course now we are in with bigger clubs than Celtic. But we deserve it. When we came to the group stage everyone said that Celtic shouldn't be here, that we were lucky against Helsingborgs [in the play-off round]. But now we have qualified with 10 points, having beaten Spartak Moscow and Barcelona, that says it all about us."

The Celtic players may be enjoying their time in such exalted company, but another man who seemingly enhances his reputation with each passing matchday, Charlie Mulgrew, insists there was no way the club will go into the last 16 as tourists. "It was important for everyone not to be remembered for beating Barcelona then failing at the next hurdle," said Mulgrew. "We're not here just to make up the numbers, we believe in ourselves and we are here to compete. The last eight is the target. Beating Barcelona has given us that belief. Over two legs against anyone, it's possible. Benfica made the quarter-finals last year and Barcelona are a top, top team so we've shown we can compete.

"The Europa League would have felt like a comedown after what we'd done. Obviously big Fraser [Forster] stands out but it's hard pick out individuals because everyone played their part at different points. It was a real team effort. The result in Moscow maybe was the turning point because a lot was made of the club's away form over the years, even though it wasn't this group of players."

Lennon should have little problem staying grounded. After negotiating yesterday's visit to a gloomy Rugby Park, his side have a William Hill Scottish Cup replay at Gayfield – in close proximity to the North Sea – to contend with. It is a ground the Celtic manager has never visited, although first-team coach Danny McGrain [who managed them in the early 90s] has filled in a few blanks.

The Northern Irishman, who will field a more experienced team than the first match, has largely kept his counsel about how his side's domestic form has been affected by the absence of Rangers but admitted last night that it has changed much. "There is definitely less of an edge and you can feel that with the punters as well at times with Rangers not being there," Lennon said. "It is just a natural feeling because the competition has been so intense. Their score would be the first thing you look for. If they had a game at 12.30pm you try to prepare your players but sort of have one eye on the result coming in. Then you have that wee bit extra pressure on you if they have won or it galvanises us if they draw or get beaten.

"So you do miss that side of it. It also takes up a lot of your time and there is a lot of negativity towards it. That is from a manager's point of view but from everybody else's perspective it is brilliant – the to-ing and fro-ing between these two juggernauts. It has been less stressful without them, put it that way. I am not saying it has been more beneficial."