‘Staring down the barrel’ – Sutton airs concern over Celtic’s Champions League future
By Aramide Oladipo
Chris Sutton believes that Celtic were fortunate to get a draw in the Champions League qualifier against Rosenborg on Wednesday evening.
The SPL champions came away with a goalless draw at Celtic Park against the Norwegian outfit and they face the serious possibility of not progressing to the next round of the elite European competition.
The Hoops struggled to create many chances throughout the match as key strikers Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele were missing due to suspension and injury respectively.
Celtic will travel to Norway next Wednesday to play in the second leg as they look to secure a positive result which will keep them on track to qualify for the Champions League group stages.
Writing in his column for the Daily Record, former Celtic striker Sutton believes that the Glaswegian side have it all to do next week and believes that it will not be an easy match.
“Rodgers was unlucky to have both of his front men out the other night but you can’t say Celtic weren’t fortunate with the result,”
“If I was in that dressing room I’d feel we got away with one there. Rosenborg missed an absolute sitter and it was just as well Nicklas Bendtner’s touch was miles out.
“Celtic could have been punished but they are still in the tie and still in with a good chance next week. The clean sheet was vital and you’d fancy them scoring in Norway.
“It won’t be easy though. People looked at their result in the last round but Rosenborg did to Celtic what Dundalk did to them.
“I remember seeing the relief on Rodgers’s face in Beer Sheva last season but Wednesday night is every bit as huge now.
“Make no mistake, Celtic are staring down the barrel and striker or not they are going to have to find a way to get the job done.”
Celtic have yet to concede a single goal in their three Champions League qualifiers this season and another clean sheet should be enough to see them progress to the next round.
The Hoops are looking to quality to the group stages of the competition for the second consecutive season.
In other Celtic news, Sutton also hit back at Rangers after the Hoops’ draw.
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