Former Celtic striker Harald Brattbakk believes that Celtic still have the edge over Rosenborg following Wednesday night’s 0-0 draw in Glasgow.
The Norwegians had the better of the chances on the night and had they taken them could have put Celtic out of the reckoning for a place in the conclusive play-off round for the Champions league group stages.
The fact that Rosenborg didn’t score, however, is something that Brattbakk believes could come back to haunt them.
“Celtic can pull through but the task is a little bit more difficult than it was before the first game,” said the former striker, who is now a pilot.
“I said before the game that having two games is in favour of Rosenborg because maybe they can pull a good result in Glasgow.
“Then again it is all about scoring goals and if you don’t then it is difficult to get through but my money would be on Celtic.
“If Rosenborg had lost by two goals or less I would have given them a shot of going through.
“Now, after the draw, their chances are bigger than ever. It is a good result. The result was more in favour of Rosenborg than Celtic.
“But I wouldn’t say that Rosenborg have the edge. Their chance of getting through to the next round is marginally bigger than they were before the game because I didn’t expect them to get a draw.
“I know that Celtic is a strong team, they will not come to Norway next week and lay on their backs.
“You could talk about another draw and extra time and penalties but that is not going to happen. “I am sure that we are going to get some goals next week. “Whoever scores first will decide how the game goes.”
Meanwhile, former Hoops boss Neil Lennon believes that Virgil van Dijk, whom he signed for Celtic, is worth more than £40m in the current climate.
Liverpool backed off of van Dijk in the opening weeks of the summer transfer window after Southampton reported them for tapping up their player, but it seems inevitable that the Dutch defender will move on from St Mary’s – with Celtic due a bumper cut of the transfer fee.
“If you look at the market now I think he is worth more,” said Lennon. “I am surprised he hasn’t gone to a bigger club.
“I admire what Southampton have done. They been really smart. They do their business in a fantastic way. They are a really clever club but I am surprised that no-one has taken a pitch earlier on him. He could play at any club in Europe.
“From my own point of view if a player doesn’t want to play for me, I’d take it as a personal affront so you’d have to go. If Southampton are taking that stance there must be suitable reasons behind that.”
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