'I think that's a success' Ex-Liverpool star lauds Celtic for Champions League campaign

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has spoken highly on Celtic’s campaign in the Champions League this season, lauding their ‘resilience’ and calling it a ‘success’.

While he noted that Celtic have a ‘limited’ transfer budget when compared to some of the competitions’ biggest hitters, he thinks the new Swiss League format has been beneficial to the Hoops. He lavished praise on their home form, but thinks their performances away from home could be an issue.

Currently, Celtic are 13th in the Champions League table, above the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG. Currently, they are on course to finish in the playoff rounds, but there are still plenty of teams below them with a game in hand.

Additionally, Murphy also revealed that he was ‘close’ to joining Celtic during his stint with Fulham. While the move ultimately never happened, Murphy confessed he was ‘quite excited’ by the prospect of a move to Glasgow, calling the atmosphere at Parkhead ‘just incredible’.

Speaking on Celtic’s Champions League campaign so far this season, in an interview with Boyle Sports, Murphy said: “I think the new Champions League format is helping Celtic because they generally give teams a really good go at home. It’s the away form that has troubled them in recent times.

“Their performances in the last couple of years in the Champions League at home have been good, missing out narrowly against good teams. This new format definitely helps them. I thought the resilience to get the point in Atalanta was a credit to the players after the defeat in Dortmund and when you look at some of the home games, there's teams they can beat.

“I think if Celtic qualify and get through into the next round, I think that's a success. I think it really is. Their budget is limited, we know that. Their quality isn't as good as some of the teams they're coming up against. So this is a great opportunity for them and the format's helped them for sure.”

On the possibility of him joining Celtic, Murphy explained: “There was a little bit of talk about joining Celtic with my agent when Neil Lennon was manager, during my time at Fulham.

“There were a couple of conversations. It didn't quite materialise, but I was quite excited by it. I've played there a couple of times and the atmosphere was just incredible. Obviously they also sing You’ll Never Walk Alone.

“Maybe with hindsight, looking back, I could have maybe made that happen. I could've maybe pushed that a little bit more because it would have been an amazing experience. It wasn't close, but it was a conversation.”

Murphy turned out for clubs such as Crewe Alexandra, Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers over the course of his career. He also picked up a handful of caps for England, making nine appearances for the Three Lions and scoring one goal between the years of 2001 and 2003. Murphy is best known for his time at Liverpool, where he won the UEFA Cup, the FA Cup and a League Cup.