Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer has shared the Hoops’ desire to go far in the Europa League this season, The Evening Times report.
Neil Lennon’s team have romped to the top of Group E in the competition and are well placed to head into the Round of 32 as a seeded team.
That presents the advantage not just of potentially facing a weaker team, but also ensuring we play the second leg at home.
For Ajer, this Thursday’s fixture against Rennes is also about just maintaining the winning run we’re on, ensuring both he and his teammates head deeper into the season with as much confidence as possible.
The Norwegian international also gave an insight into the mentality of the dressing room, with the team feeling they can progress beyond the next round.
As quoted by The Evening Times, he said: “Thursday is a massive game. We want to win the group and we can do it if we take the three points against Rennes.
“It’s important for us on both counts in the fact that we have ambitions to go far in Europe and if we win the group, we would meet a second-placed team, but we also want to just keep winning and everyone wants to play.”
Exciting 2020 ahead?
That there’s such confidence flowing through the team right now, it’s an exciting thing to consider that they have serious ambitions to produce one of our best European campaigns in a generation.
Not since the days of Martin O’Neill have we truly considered we can make it into the latter stages of a European competition, but that appears to be the target this term.
And why not dream?
Celtic have already shown this season they can get the better of a side currently flying high in Serie A competition. There really is little to fear, especially if we are seeds in the next round.
Beyond the Round of 32, everything gets a little unpredictable but with the right draw and the standard of performance we’ve been producing, I’d back us to give most teams in the Europa League a tough game.
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