The Celtic faithful must stay grounded ahead of Rennes clash

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There’s a growing feeling developing that Celtic just have to turn up to defeat Rennes on Thursday night.

Perhaps it’s the nine point gap between the sides in Europa League Group E, or the fact that the Ligue 1 side have lost their last four matches on the road. Or maybe it’s just the general level of confidence the support have in Neil Lennon’s high-flying stars.

But whatever the situation, we must all make sure that we stay humble ahead of Thursday’s clash. It’s easy to forget the dull days when we weren’t battering European sides home and away, but it’s not so long ago that we were delighted to come away from Brittany with a point.

Our 1-1 draw on matchday one could well have been a victory but it wasn’t – and it was felt that a point was a pretty positive result. Since that day both ourselves and Rennes have gone in completely different directions – we’ve won all three matches and they’ve lost all theirs.

The Celtic support can’t take victory for granted against Rennes

Yet the Celtic faithful can’t afford to turn up on Thursday night expecting an easy victory. Julien Stephan’s men are the French Cup winners after all. They’ve defeated PSG twice over the past six months and still sit just six points off the Champions League places in Ligue 1.

They a very capable side who we can’t be expected to brush aside with little hassle. They still have the ability to make the match a real struggle for us on a night when our players could be excused for having their minds elsewhere.

If we do start sloppily and aren’t leading by the 20 minute mark, the fans must stay with the team. Winning matches against teams from Europe’s top five leagues can never be a given. No matter the contrast in form.

The importance of topping the group cannot be lost. If we have genuine ambitions to make it beyond the round of 32 – where we’ve failed three times in the past five years – then being seeded is almost a must.

To do that we may have to beat Rennes on Thursday. That makes the game worthy of the same attention as both Cluj and Lazio. For both the players and the supporters.