Neil Lennon says he’s not buying the comments made by Cluj boss Dan Petrescu ahead of Wednesday’s clash.
The Hoops are in Romania for the first leg of their Champions League clash, and they should win pretty comfortably going by Petrescu’s comments. The former Chelsea man reckoned that Celtic should be more worried about their clash against Slavia Prague, because they should comfortably see off his side.
He also said it would be a miracle if the Romanians qualified from the tie. But Lennon isn’t taking the remarks at face value.
“Dan’s trying to play down their chances”, he told the Daily Record.
“They are champions of Romania, in good form recently and came through a tough tie in the last round.
“I don’t know what their budget is. I have a fair idea what ours is, but on the night budgets go out the window and the team that plays the strongest will prevail.
“That’s why I don’t buy Dan’s comments about it being miracle. It’s going to be a tough tie.”
Lennon has seen through the Petrescu masterplan
It’s clear what the foxy Petrescu was trying to achieve with his comments, but it was never going to work.
Celtic play several of these qualifiers every year and there has rarely been a case of us taking an opposition side lightly. Even in our darkest defeats – to the likes of Malmo and Maribor – it has been our own display that has let us down, rather than not giving the opposition due respect.
Lennon is well aware of the threat Cluj pose. They’ve knocked Astana and Maccabi Tel Aviv out so far this summer and that shows that they’re a capable outfit.
If Petrescu was trying to lull the Celtic squad into a false sense of security then that won’t work either. Now they’ll just be even more aware of the tough task that awaits them with their manager making sure they’re on the ball.
One thing’s for sure. If Celtic lose the tie it won’t be down to a lack of respect or preparation.
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