Martin O'Neill rejects what he's hearing about Celtic and Rangers in the Champions League

Celtic have got just one round to successfully negotiate to make the Champions League group stage.

Brendan Rodgers will know by 9:30pm tomorrow night if Celtic will face Kairat or Slovan Bratislava as the Slovakian champions look to overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat.

The Celtic manager will be confident of beating either of the two to reach the league phase of UEFA’s elite competition this season.

Rangers, on the other hand, need to get through their second-round tie against Viktoria Plzen to face either Club Brugge or FC Salzburg.

Whilst both clubs know that the chances of ever winning the Champions League are extremely remote, Celtic legend Martin O’Neill rejects what he’s hearing people say about the Hoops and Rangers participating in UEFA’s top competition.

Photo by S. Mellar/FC Bayern via Getty Images

O’Neill regularly defends Celtic from criticism whenever they suffer a defeat in the Champions League with many detractors saying both Glasgow clubs would be better in the second, or even third, tier competitions.

And the former Celtic boss is absolutely not having any of it.

O’Neill told The Herald, “There is a school of thought that Celtic and Rangers would be better off playing in the Europa League.

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“I don’t agree with that sentiment. If you’re in the Europa League, that’s fine, but your aspirations should always be the Champions League.”

Both sets of supporters will know by the end of the month whether or not they will be in with Europe’s big boys with Celtic fans hoping for a repeat of last season’s campaign.

Do Celtic fans care if Rangers make the Champions League?

The vast majority will say absolutely not, and they would be correct? The football rivalry in this city means that many, many Celtic fans would love to see Rangers fail at the qualification stage.

Whilst the country’s co-efficient will improve, so will the Ibrox club’s chances of closing the gap to Celtic.

If Celtic want to keep that gap as wide as possible, the Parkhead board must back Rodgers in the transfer market to improve in the Champions League.

By doing that and recruiting players who can compete at the highest level in Europe, Celtic’s domestic dominance will take care of itself.

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