Beram Kayal believes that Celtic’s performance in Barcelona has earned the respect of Europe.
Just over two years ago the midfielder made his debut against Utrecht as Celtic won 2-0 at home before crashing out of the Europa League after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat in Holland.
On Tuesday night it took Barcelona until the final minute of stoppage time to get in front of Neil Lennon’s side with Kayal delighted by the progress the team is making.
“We always believe we can do something,” he claimed. “Some months ago when we said we wanted to go to the Champions League, people said that was not possible.
“All they spoke about was that it was four years since we’d been in it. But now I think a lot of people and other teams will be giving us a lot of respect.
“We always believed we could do something at this level. We had difficulties in the past when we played away from home, but that is no longer the case. Now it’s taken a goal right at the end by Barcelona to beat us.
“We have to be happy that we are second in the group at the halfway point. We also have two home games to come and we have to go to Lisbon.
“Of course we believe it is possible to qualify. We thought we could do it when the draw was made and we still believe it now. We have to still be very proud. Barcelona is the biggest game any team can possibly face and we played very well.
“We defended well as a team and looked powerful when we went forward. It’s just so unlucky to lose a goal in the last minute of the game.
“We’re all disappointed about the result, but there are many positives. I am so proud of all the players.”
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I would rate Neil Lennon’s team alongside and even ahead of the great Martin O’Neil team that got us to the Europa final. They are growing in stature and confidence. This great Celtic team is going places and are a joy to watch.