Gary Lineker in ‘banging’ Celtic endorsement as Rangers star continues bromance with ace no longer at club
Celtic won a number of plaudits after an impressive 5-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava in Europe
Match of the Day host and England football legend Gary Lineker has claimed that Celtic have all the tools to advance to the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League.
The Scottish champions kicked off the competition with an emphatic 5-1 victory at home to Slovan Bratislava and were able to completely overpower the Slovakian side throughout the game as Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi, Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah all got on the scoresheet.
The result leaves Celtic in second position at the end of matchday one and crucially inside the top eight places - leaving the Hoops on course for knockout football.
Lineker was left hugely impressed with the manner of Celtic’s victory and believes Brendan Rodgers could finally be the man to lead them to the next stage of the tournament.
The ex-Leicester City and Barcelona forward signalled them out for praise on the Rest is Football podcast, he said: “Talking of exciting football and brilliant stuff, what about Celtic banging in five? Now you would say they’re going to play against teams they can beat and I would say probably one of the favourites to reach the play-offs this year.
“I’ll remind everyone again because the teams between 8th and 24th will play in the play-off games to join the top eight in the Champions League last 16. So it will be interesting to see.
"I think with this format, let’s wait and see and see how it pans out. The only downside to that is that there’s even more football for the players. But a brilliant win for Celtic and a fantastic start for them.”
Fellow pundit Micah Richards shared Lineker’s view and was also quick to praise Rodgers’ impact at Parkhead.
The ex-Manchester City star said: “You know what, everyone talks about this new Champions League format and no disrespect to Celtic, in previous years and recent history, they might have had an opportunity to win a game maybe in one of the later rounds [of the group stage]."
“It might not have been one of the greatest games, it was sort of like for pride. Can we finish third and get into the Europa League?”
Nico Raskin congratulates former teammate Abdallah Sima
Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin was one of the first to send former team mate Abdallah Sima a message of congratulations after he scored for Brest in their Champions League opener.
The Senegalese forward, who spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Ibrox, got on the scoresheet with a second-half strike as the French side ran out 2-1 winners over Sturm Graz on Thursday, leaving them 13th in the table at the end of matchday one.
Raskin, who begins his Europa League campaign with a trip to Malmo on Thursday, commented on Sima’s Instagram: “Simaaaaaaaaa” followed by a red heart emoji.”
Sima signed for Rangers on loan from Brighton last term and was a huge fan favourite after registering 16 goals and two assists in 39 appearances for the Light Blues.