Dan Petrescu says Celtic are at the “same level” as Sevilla

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CFR Cluj boss Dan Petrescu has lavished praise on Celtic once again by saying that we are at the “same level” as La Liga giants Sevilla.

Neil Lennon’s men may not have played the Romanians since mid-December, but they’ve still clearly made an impression on Petrescu.

His side held perennial Europa League winners Sevilla to a 1-1 draw at home last night, and Petrescu reckons that they can use some Celtic inspiration in the second leg.

“In my opinion, Sevilla are the favourites for this tournament,” he said, as is reported by the Daily Record.

“But they are the same level as Celtic and we have already gone to Glasgow this season and won.

“No one expected us to get a result in Scotland, but we put Celtic out of the Champions League.

“We were by far the better team for most of the game against Sevilla and we have nothing to fear ahead of the second leg.

“We have already produced one miracle in Glasgow this season and I believe we can do it again.”

You can understand Petrescu Celtic comparison

Well maybe Cluj aren’t the poor outfit that some would have had you believe six months or so ago.

Yes, our Champions League exit to them was avoidable, and unacceptable. But Cluj have shown since that they’re a pretty good European side.

Group stage wins over ourselves, Rennes and Lazio and last night’s draw against Sevilla show that they are a team to be taken seriously.

It’s also nice for Petrescu to compare us to Sevilla. You can kind of see where he’s coming from.

Many had written Cluj off after their 1-1 draw against us back in August, but they shocked us at Celtic Park.

The same kind of situation befalls them going into next Thursday in Seville – a city we’re all pretty fond of.

But even the most ardent Celtic fan would surely admit that the Spanish outfit – who’ve won the Europa League five times since 2005 – are a little bit ahead of us.

They’ll be one of the teams to avoid if we get past Copenhagen, and Cluj bow out.

But don’t write the Romanians off.

What do you make of Petrescu’s Sevilla comparison? And who do you want to avoid if we make it past Copenhagen? Let us know below by contributing to our brand news fans discussion forum…