Cluj midfielder Alexandru Paun has continued his side’s theme of talking down their chances by insisting it will take a miracle for them to beat Celtic on Tuesday.
The Romanians travel to Glasgow knowing that they’ll need to score at least one goal to make the Champions League Playoff round. If they do that they’ll face Slavia Prague over 180 minutes to make the Group Stage of the competition.
However Paun, who scored in their 3-0 weekend win over FC Hermannstadt, doesn’t think that scenario is very likely.
“We need a miracle to qualify,” he told the Daily Record.
“The morale in the squad is excellent at the moment and we are playing some nice football, but to go through in Glasgow, it’s a miracle we need.
“It will be extremely tough to play a team like Celtic at their own stadium and we have to score.
“But what is pleasing at the moment is that we have a squad who look like we can score goals. We made a lot of changes for the weekend win.”
Cluj comments won’t register with Celtic
Paun is talking a load of rubbish, quite simply. English may not be his first language but it’s still fair to assume he knows the definition of the word ‘miracle’.
Cluj getting a victory (or a high scoring draw) at Celtic Park on Tuesday would be slightly surprising perhaps, but hardly a miracle. The Romanians were the better side on the whole in the first leg and must surely fancy their chances of netting in Glasgow.
If they do then the entire complexion of the tie will change. Celtic Park would become a very nervous place and that would likely feed onto the pitch where the Celtic players would feel uneasy.
Dan Petrescu’s side will take cause for optimism from the ease at which the Hoops conceded two goals at the weekend. Both goals at Fir Park were highly avoidable with Scott Bain and his defence hardly covering themselves in glory on either occasion.
Tuesday’s clash is balanced pretty evenly. Celtic certainly have the advantage but it’s probably still only around 60/40 in their favour. We need to be very wary of conceding indeed. Equally, we can’t afford to play for a draw.
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