LISBON LION Bertie Auld fears the last 16 of the Champions League is already beyond Celtic this season.
The Scottish champions face the daunting prospect of a double-header against holders and favourites Manchester United as they attempt to salvage their European campaign following a drab goalless draw with Danish champions Aalborg in their group open
er, before suffering a narrow defeat away to Villarreal.
But, after reaching the knockout stages for the last two years, Auld believes a UEFA Cup spot is the best Gordon Strachan's men can hope for this time around.
He said: "The UEFA Cup is more likely but the important thing is that Gordon Strachan and the players are still getting that experience of playing at a higher level, rather than just playing in the SPL. It's definitely not a consolation prize. The most important thing is learning and achieving something.
"I think it was a great achievement by Rangers to reach the final last season. Even though they got beaten, it was still a great achievement to get there.
"We don't have the quality to win the section but we have a group of players who will definitely battle to get a place, whether that's second place or third place. Aalborg was a disappointment to just get the one point because we thought we would win that game.
"We did extremely well at United's ground before and it was a great game. They will be hurting because we beat them at Parkhead. They won't want to be embarrassed. They have superstars there. At this moment in time, I think Old Trafford would be beyond us."
The full article contains 277 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
