Christopher Jullien would’ve preferred to avoid Rennes

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Celtic defender Christopher Jullien admits he would rather have avoided Rennes in the Europa League group stage.

Neil Lennon’s men were paired with the French Cup winners, plus Lazio and Cluj, in last Friday’s draw in Monaco.

And Jullien, who spent his last three seasons playing in Ligue 1 for Toulouse, admits he would have preferred to avoid a return to his native country.

“I was not so happy to see Rennes in the draw and go back to France,” he told press on Wednesday. (Celtic official YouTube channel)

“When you spend all of your life in France you just want to see other things.

“It’s okay though. Rennes are a good team and I’m sure we will go there and compete.

“They had a good year last year. They have a good team and have some new players with them. They have lots of good young players and are known for that around the world.

“We have to be ready for that game because I think it’s going to set the tone for the group.”

Jullien will have knowledge of Rennes

Jullien may not be totally happy with returning to his homeland but his knowledge and experience could prove valuable to Celtic. The defender featured twice against the side from Brittany last season, drawing on both occasions.

He’ll be well aware of some of the dangermen Julien Stephan’s side possess and also the arena Celtic are going into. Thankfully, Neil Lennon also has experience of visiting Roazhon Park after our trip there in 2011.

From memory, the stadium wasn’t particularly intimidating. The home support tend to come out in good numbers but they’re not the most hostile of fanbases. That should augur well for Celtic as we chase our first Europa League points of the season.

A draw would be a terrific result in the North of France. If we can aim to take 4 points from every team in the group then we will be well placed to make the last 32 of the competition.