THE signing of Christopher Jullien in the summer for the not insignificant fee of £7m was designed to take the Celtic team to the next level, with manager Neil Lennon stating at the time, “Jullien is coming as No 1 — he’s that sort of signing. It sends a message out that we want to improve the squad and quality.”
After something of a slow start as he got up to full speed, he certainly has done that, and it is on the European stage where he has particularly excelled, proving an immense presence in the back-to-back wins over Lazio.
As well as the domineering physicality, aerial presence and composure in possession that Jullien has brought with him from France, has come a steadfast belief in his abilities that has transmitted itself to his Celtic teammates. And coupled with the confidence that has come from their fine Europa League showings to date this season, there is a growing feeling within that Celtic dressing room that they may just be able to go far in the tournament.
How far? Well, how about all the way?
“Why not?” said Jullien. “I said it before, why not?
“We can believe it, because we have the group, we have the players, we have the mentality to go all the way.
“It would be amazing for sure for the club and everything else, but we have to focus on the next game.
“Football can go way too fast one way or the other. We won against Lazio and that was really good, we enjoyed the moment, but if we didn’t win against Motherwell on the Sunday it would have gone the other way.
“We just have to take it game by game and we’ll see what happens next.”
Celtic have of course already cleared the immediate hurdle of qualification for the group stage in fine style, clinching their place in the last 32 with their heroics in the Stadio Olimpico.
The next goal is to finish top of their group in order to enhance their chances of a favourable draw in the first knockout stage, a feat they can accomplish with a win over Stade Rennais on Thursday night at Celtic Park, providing Lazio also manage to take something from their match against Cluj.
The club have never topped a qualification group in European football, and Jullien is confident they can get that monkey off their back first and foremost.
“That would be really good,” he said. “We could make a bit of history and it would be good for us in terms of the draw and everything else.
“We are just staying in the good moment that we are in.
“Even if we have qualified, it’s important to keep that going in these two games. Keep winning, keep the system, keep that winning feeling.
“That would be really good for us and we’re going to be trying our best.”
When Celtic travelled to Rennes for the opening game of this group stage they left with a point, but also a renewed belief in what they could achieve on that stage, along with a tinge of regret over their failure to come away with the three points that their performance deserved.
Since that night, the fortunes of the two sides have diverged, with the point the French side gained against the Scottish champions still the only one they have managed to put on the board after three further matches.
While the way the group has panned out may have surprised a few people in France as Celtic stole a march to seal qualification with two games to spare, it hasn’t surprised Jullien in the slightest. Put simply, he always believed that Celtic were the better side of the two.
“I’ve not been looking as much at French football since I came here,” he said. “But when French teams are not going well, they don’t talk much about it.
“They did not speak about it much, but Celtic are a quality team – and all the world knows it.
“It’s not surprised me because even before we played them, I really believed that our team was better. We drew over in their home, but I really think we could have won it.
“Last year they had a good year, winning the cup and going far in the Europa League. They have really good young players although they can be up and down. But it’s not surprised me because our group is really hard.
“I’m just really happy for us and I’m looking forward to seeing how the second game against Rennes goes.
“It’s going to be a really important game against Rennes even though we have already qualified for the knockouts.”
The European arena is not only the stage where Jullien has shone brightest this season, but also where teammate Olivier Ntcham has really shown his worth, and no more so than with his stoppage time winner against Lazio in Rome.
After something of a frustrating campaign to that point for the midfielder as he struggles to nail down a regular place in the starting 11, Jullien was delighted to see his friend savour his moment, and he believes he will be making a more consistent impact for Celtic going forward.
“It was really good, I was really happy for him,” he said. “He’s had some problems this season so far, so I’m really happy.
“Since I arrived here, he has stayed with me as a friend and has made me feel better on the field, which has been really nice.
“We all know his talent, so I’m not afraid for him. The fact he has been in and out of the team says a lot about or squad.
“When you have quality and talent like that, sometimes you won’t be playing every game.
“We are all together though, and that just shows the strength that we have.
“It’s really good for the team I think that in every training session you have to fight for your place.”
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