Celtic captain Callum McGregor has stated that his preferred opponent in the Hoops’ upcoming Champions League campaign would be Real Madrid.
Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic enter the group stages of the competition automatically this season for the first time in over a decade, and with the draw just around the corner, McGregor is hoping that the 14-time winners and reigning champions await for his side.
As reported by STV, McGregor said: “We’re really looking forward to the Champions League. The play-off games are getting close to a conclusion and the draw will be after that.
“We’re focused on looking after the league business, the here and now, but in the back of our heads we know the Champions League is coming around pretty quickly.
“We’ve played quite a few big teams but probably the one most of the Celtic fans would like is Real Madrid. I’ve not played against them yet but we know anybody we get drawn against will be a top team and a big challenge for us.”
The 29-year-old also highlighted the importance of Celtic’s automatic qualification, with Scottish champions enjoying an unusually light early-season fixture list when they would normally face European qualifiers.
He continued: “It’s definitely been a slower start to the season in terms of the number of games we’ve played but it’s also given us good time to train and prepare really well for the games we have had.
“You can see from the start we’ve had that the boys are working hard, they look fit and the team looks pretty cohesive.”
This year’s European campaign will be Celtic’s first in the Champions League group stage since they made the competition twice in successive seasons under Brendan Rodgers in 16-17 and 17-18, with the Bhoys finishing 3rd in the latter season.
Since then, Celtic have played in the Europa League group stages every season, reaching the last 32 twice, but failing to progress past Valencia and Copenhagen, with Bodo/Glimt ending the Bhoys inaugural Europa Conference League knockout campaign last season.
Celtic will hope for better when they find out their Champions League group stage opponents a week today on the 25th of August at 4pm, with the conclusion of the group stage play-off round the previous evening.
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