Celtic have given themselves a huge boost in their quest to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
When Celtic conceded seven to Borussia Dortmund, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if some were fearing the worst and possible nightmares of finishing outside of the play-offs.
But fast forward to the present and the latest Champions League standings make for great reading for those in Green and White.
Celtic’s win over RB Leipzig was a masterful performance and one of the side’s best European displays during the modern era.
It could even be argued that it’s probably the best performance under Brendan Rodgers’ two dominant reigns in Glasgow.
Either way, Celtic are sitting 15th, with momentum in their legs, two points off sixth-placed Barcelona and three points behind second-placed Sporting Lisbon.
As a result, they aren’t just dreaming about knockout Champions League football at Celtic Park, but ending the second half of this revamped Champions League tournament well and there could even be a top-eight finish in play.
English pundits think ‘nobody’ will want to play Celtic during the knockout stages
When Nicolas Kuhn equalised for Celtic against Leipzig, the noise inside the stadium was deafening and it went up a level.
The away side couldn’t cope, as the champions of Scotland, either dominated them in the final third or just controlled the game with ease.
French journalist Julien Laurens thinks they can do ‘even better’ than just finish in the play-offs, with some winnable games around the corner.
Whilst English pundits and former left-back Stephen Warnock, alongside presenter Mark Chapman, agreed that ‘nobody’ will want to take on Rodgers’ side at Paradise, as they told Match of the Day.
“Yet, you have a look at the games they have still to come, they have got quite a lot of, with all due respect to Club Brugge, Young Boys and Dinamo Zagreb, but they have got some of their big ones out of the way early,” said Chapman.
European football expert Julian Laurens: “Absolutely, seven points already and two home games coming in the next three now. They will have to go to Zagreb, which isn’t an easy place to go to, but it’s doable. They could easily get six points out of those last four matches, then that potentially qualifies them and maybe even better than that.”
Chapman added: “And then you say, nobody will want to go there.” To which Stephen Warnock added: “Not at all. When the atmosphere is like that, then what a difficult place to go to.”
Can Celtic finish in the top eight?
If you finish in the top eight, then you automatically qualify for the round of 16, with those finishing ninth to 24th, then playing a two-legged encounter to determine who will join the others in the knockout phase.
If you finish any lower, then you are eliminated and it’s fair to say that Celtic should avoid that.
But with only three points separating Celtic in 15th and Sporting in 2nd, then a few more wins and you are flying up that table.
The next game for Rodgers to deal with is another home clash, this time against Club Brugge, before an away tie against Dinamo Zagreb and then the Swiss champions coming to Glasgow.
Seven points, or even more, should be targetted in those matches, and if that happens, then Celtic’s trip to Aston Villa in the final game week might just prove to be memorable.
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