Optimistic Kenny Dalglish reckons Celtic can get the seven points they need to secure progress in the Champions League.
The Hoops have struggled to keep up with the pace in Europe so far with their draw against Shakhtar in Poland their only point so far. They impressed with their performance against Real Madrid but eventually lost 3-0 at Parkhead while they also fell to a damaging 3-1 defeat against RB Leipzig in Germany.
Yet it's still a case of down but not out for Ange Postecoglou and his team at the midway point. While rivals Rangers need a miracle to stay alive in Europe, it's not quite so bleak for Celtic whose fate is still in their own hands. Dalglish reckons they'll need an unlikely seven points to progress in the Champions League but with two home games to come before their hotly anticipated trip to Madrid, he believes his old team can do it.
He wrote in his Sunday Post column: " Celtic are in a better place (than Rangers) and look likelier to stay in the tournament. They have a point from their away game at Shakhtar Donetsk. They may well feel they should have at least one more draw and that’s an understandable outlook.
"It may well be that seven points could see them finish runners-up to Real Madrid. That’s why it’s vital they win their next two games – at Parkhead against RB Leipzig and then Shakhtar. It’s a tall order but not impossible. If they are trying to do it without Callum McGregor then that makes it all the harder. Callum is central to everything they do and he makes the team tick. He is a fine operator at Champions League level. With him unavailable due to injury, then it’s up to others to step up to the mark.
"I have a good feeling Celtic can do it. They are now in a three-team tournament and they can win their next two games. But maybe they need to be a wee bit more compact than they were at certain times in Leipzig the other night in the 3-1 defeat. They may well need something from their final game, away to Real Madrid, and that might be a step too far. But you never know."
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