SCOTT BROWN believes that Celtic deserves to be in the champions League, so these crucial qualifying rounds so early in the season can shape the entire season. Brendan Rodgers has managed to negotiate his way through in each of his two previous seasons as Celtic manager but this year the task has got significantly tougher with the Scottish Champions having to play an astonishing number of matches just to get to the Group stages.
It’s 8 games but with last nights excellent 3-0 win over Alashkert, in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, the second leg i something of a formality next week. But the opponents will get tough for Celtic who will have to be at their best to find a way through.
The Celtic captain was speaking to The Celtic View and had all of this on his mind as he gets ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
“Pre-season is all about us getting fit and ready for the Champions League qualifiers and also about the manager seeing everyone as a couple of players have come back from being on loan as well,” Broony stated.
“Every single position is up for grabs. Last season is gone and it means nothing now, and it’s about how we start this season.
“Our main is getting to the Champions League to start with and then the league will hopefully take care of itself if we play as well as we’ve done for the past couple of seasons.
“Cup games can always be hard, going away from home, but for us, it’s just about looking to try and get into the Champions League. We’ve done it in the last two years and we need to make sure we’re focused to do it again.”
