Yahoo News 'Exceptional' Celtic are Champions League dark horse as Hoops set on collision course with flop ex Rangers boss
'Exceptional' Celtic can go FAR in the Champions League this season.
That's the verdict of Slovakian legend Tomas Oravec who has tipped Brendan Rodgers' men to be dark horses at Europe's top table. The Hoops hammered Slovan Bratislava in the competition opener 5-1 in front of a packed out home crowd at Parkhead. Next up is a trip to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund but it the style of play and performance from midweek that has majorly impressed Oravec.
Former Slovakian international Oravec scored the first ever goal for a club in his country for MSK Zilina when they became the first Slovakian club to play in the group stages of the Champions League against Chelsea in 2010. He said: "Celtic were exceptional and they had incredibly fast players and this gave Slovan a lot of trouble. But in defence of Slovan, I don't think they will face another team who were as fast and pressed as much as Celtic. They are a team that can go far in the competition.
"Perhaps they will come up teams who are more skillful, but for intensity? They won't play a side like that again. I don't think Slovan will concede five goals again. In my opinion, they will show more quality at home with their great support which will drive them to do better than they managed in Glasgow."
Meanwhile, an old foe could take to the dugout to try and mastermind a European win over Celtic. Former Rangers flop boss Paul Le Guen is on the shortlist to take charge at Dinamo Zagreb.
They acted fast to sack boss Sergej Jakirovic following a 9-2 battering at Bayern Munich. Now Le Guen has thrown his hat into the wring for the vacant post at the Croatian champions - who host Celtic on matchday six in December.
The 60-year-old managed Rangers in 2006 for just six months in a disastrous spell despite signing a three-year deal and was eventually replaced by Alex McLeish.
Since then, he has gone on to manage PSG, Bursaspor and the national teams of Cameroon and Oman. His last job in football was as manager of French second tier outfit Le Havre, where he was sacked two years ago.
Le Guen has managed against Celtic on four occasions. Twice as Rangers boss where they lost 2-0 at Parkhead and drew 1-1 at Ibrox.
And he also came up against them in the Champions League in 2003 when he was manager of Lyon - where he won three French titles in a row before coming to Rangers - and guided them to a 3-2 win in France and lost 2-0 in Glasgow. Le Guen is up against former Croatia captain and Wolfsburg boss Niko Kovac, ex-Union Berlin manager Nenad Bjelica and current Rijeka boss Zeljko Sopic.
