Brendan Rodgers will have a not so secret motivation for Europe this season.
Today the hoops set off on the qualification phase away to Alashkert hoping to make it through to the group phase for the third season running.
Reaching the group phase is the primary aim of the club but over the last two seasons Celtic have lost seven goals in Barcelona and Paris.
Rodgers’ reputation has taken a kicking on the back of those defeats with teams at the World Cup demonstrating that it is possible to keep the score down against multi-talented opponents.
None of the teams at the World Cup are able to put out a forward line to match PSG or Barcelona but John Hartson believes that Rodgers has a big point to prove in the European arena.
Looking ahead to Celtic’s European prospects in the Evening Times the Welshman said: “Brendan will want to get Celtic into the knockout stages as his predecessors Neil Lennon and Martin O’Neill did. Going for 10 in-a-row is obviously so important to the club and the fans, and I completely get that, but I also feel that Brendan wants to achieve things in Europe after some of the drubbings Celtic have had over the last couple of years under him.”
Having overcome three qualifying rounds in the previous seasons, this term Celtic have four qualifying rounds to negotiate to reach the group phase.
