Callum McGregor’s exciting Celtic Champions League verdict after Bhoys claim Atalanta ‘bonus point’

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Celtic are in a handy position regarding their hopes of securing one of the Champions League knockout playoff phase berths after claiming a draw away to Atalanta in midweek.

The Bhoys are currently 20th in the league phase standings, with Brendan Rodgers’ men ranking above the likes of Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid in the Swiss-style table.

Of course, that may change over time, with Celtic set to face RB Leipzig in their next Champions League clash at Parkhead in under a fortnight.

Admittedly, the Bhoys’ draw against Atalanta took the form of a more ruggid performance. Instead of free-flowing easy on the eye football, there was more emphasis on weakening the home side’s ability to frequently exploit dangerous areas.

With Celtic on course so far in their attempts to book Champions League progression, Callum McGregor has given his verdict on where his side feel they are currently standing.

Callum McGregor’s Celtic Champions League verdict

Taking confidence from Wednesday night’s showing against Atalanta, McGregor feels Celtic may be ahead of where many envisaged at this stage on points and is optimistic his side can continue their momentum at home to RB Leipzig and beyond.

He stated, starting with the result in midweek [Daily Record]: “Yeah it was probably a bonus point. I think we knew that we could probably get something from the game, we had to bring a big level and all these things.

“But it’s a game that we felt we could get something from, and now that we have it’s a bit of a bonus. With the other games we just have to look at them in isolation and see what we can get and hopefully by the end of the competition in January we’ve qualified or we’re in that playoff group to go and try to qualify for the next stage.

“We just take it one by one and try not to get too up or down in terms of the results, we know where we want to be and we’ve just got to stick together as a group. It’s exciting – we’re maybe ahead of where we should be in terms of points.

“Home games are always important, the next one will be a very difficult game, similar to the Dortmund style the Germans play, it’ll be a tough game and we’ll have to bring a big level to that as well, but hopefully we can get on our game and bring the crowd with us and get another positive result.”

Celtic turn to domestic duty before RB Leipzig test

Before encountering RB Leipzig, Celtic have two Scottish Premiership clashes against Motherwell and Dundee to take care of before a powderkeg Premier Sports Cup meeting with Aberdeen next Saturday.

The Bhoys have showed they are more than capable of competing on the European stage, but they will be acutely aware of how much work is left to be done across all competitions to position themselves nicely this term.

Six points and progression to their first cup final of the season will be the only expectation from supporters, starting with tomorrow afternoon’s clash at Fir Park.