Celtic legend Kenny Dalglish reckons the Bhoys can pick up a positive result away from home against Real Betis on Thursday night.
Ange Postecoglou and the Bhoys travel to Seville to take on the famous La Liga side in the opening match of the Europa League.
Betis finished a creditable sixth in the top-flight last term, demonstrating the quality they have. However, they’ve not had the best of starts to the season, currently sitting with just two points from four matches.
Nonetheless, they will be favourites to win Thursday’s encounter.
However, Dalglish thinks the Bhoys could cause an upset and pick up a positive result despite having a squad full of new players still gelling together.
Writing in his Sunday Post column today [12/09, Post Match supplement page 9], he said: “When you have signed 11 or 12 new players in the summer transfer window, you would like to have as much time on the training ground with them as possible.
“You want to give the team the best chance of gelling together, and all your squad becoming fully aware of the tactical systems. But that doesn’t mean Celtic can’t pull it off, and go on a real positive run in the next three or four months.
“On paper, both clubs’ [Celtic and Rangers] opening games in their Europa League groups are attractive, and both clubs will be eager to get their campaign off to a positive start.
“Doing well in Europe is always a marker, and is a much-different challenge from the domestic game. I don’t see why both clubs can’t get points on the board on Thursday night, and really kick-off their European challenge.”
One of the small details in Celtic’s favour includes the fact that Betis play a league match tomorrow, in a must-win encounter.
No doubt the full focus of the Spaniards will be on picking up three points in that one, rather than thinking about Celtic.
That couple of days of extra rest and preparation for the Bhoys could end up being crucial.
Still, I don’t actually have much expectation in terms of a result. It’s a tough ask to go to Spain and pick something up. I’m looking for a good performance, of course, but it’s a relatively pressure-free fixture for me!
In other news, Packie Bonner tells Celtic fans not to worry about Dom McKay exit.
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