Drawing a Spanish side in their first ever Champions League match has a particular advantage as far as Celtic FC Women are concerned. The Celts are of course managed by the charismatic Spanish coach Fran Alonso who has plenty of knowledge about opponents Levante in what will be an historic moment for The Hoops next month.
While Celtic finished in second spot in the SWPL, Levante ended the season in the Primera Division in third position behind Champions League winners Barcelona, who hammered Chelsea in the final and Real Madrid. Oh and Levante finished ahead of Atletico Madrid too, so it’s going to be quite a challenge for Celtic and that’s where the local knowledge might just help the Hoops.
“I know Levante well,” Alonso said today to the official Celtic FC Women website. “They’re a very, very tough team in a very good league who finished seven points ahead of Atletico Madrid and only four below Real Madrid, and they only lost six games in the whole season.
“I know them very well – they have great players and a lot of talent in the team, so it’s going to be a difficult challenge. They’ll have a new manager and maybe they will have different tactics or style, but they’re an extremely difficult team and we’ve never played a team of that level yet.”
Celtic will then face either Rosenborg or Dinamo Minsk in the final or third place play-off in the qualifying group, so are guaranteed two match. Win them both and there’s a fantastic opportunity to participate in the group stages which would be awesome..
“It’s exciting and a learning opportunity for us. To listen to the anthem and compete against a top team from another country is great. Wherever it is, it will be very exciting for all of us as we’ve been working and to try to achieve this spot and now we have the reward.
“We will start our preparations on Monday but our focus will be on the games before Levante, but it’s very exciting.
“We’ll also either play Minsk or Rosenborg which is also exciting, so we’re guaranteed at least two games, and if we do very, very well then we may have more. All the girls are super excited and what an opportunity for this young group or players to be able to play in Europe against a fantastic team,” the Celtic manager said.
The one-venue mini tournament will kick off on Wednesday 18 August, with the Group final and third place play-off to be played on Saturday 21 August. COYGIG
Great opportunity to grow and learn as a team, facing a superb Spanish side @LUDfemenino in the new exciting @UWCL
We can’t literally wait 😁🍀!!
Hopefully we can see some of you celts in the Stadium!!
In Scotland and in Europe…. always mon the Hoops! HH#UWCL 🍀 #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/uFxo2vKMCF
— Fran Alonso (@FranAlonsoFA) July 2, 2021
🗣️ I know them very well – they have great players and a lot of talent in the team
The manager gives his reaction to this afternoon’s @UWCL Round One draw! 👇https://t.co/NOoGUufbMx
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) July 2, 2021
