Two time Champions League winner with Real Madrid , Steve McManaman, has had his say on Celtic’s chances of making it through to the last 16.
The hoops were drawn alongside his former club, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk in this evening’s group stage draw.
Speaking on BT Sport after the draw, McManaman, now an analyst and commentator on the channel for Champions League nights, gave some very positive comments, but first started with his take on how the Spanish side are currently looking:
“They’re ok. They’re ok Jake.”
“They’ve lost Marcelo, they’ve lost Isco, they’ve lost Casimero.”
“Yes, they’ve brought in Rudiger and Tchoumeni, but they’re not necessarily as strong as they were last year.”
“They’ve got Hazard back who’s full fit, who’s started La Liga off really well, so yes it’s great the fact that Celtic will play them. They’ll always be there or there abouts.”
“Madrid will look at that and think, Shakhtar Donetsk, they seem to play them every single year, but Shakhtar are playing in Warsaw now of course, not in Ukraine, RB Leipzig they’ve met.”
“Again, from a Celtic point of view, I think they’ve got a brilliant chance!”
“Great that they’re gonna play Shakhtar and Leipzig, but then Madrid, depending on when you’re gonna face Madrid, you might get them in the last game of the group when they’ve already qualified like they did last year, you never know.”
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful competition for them to take part in.”
“They might do a Sheriff a win! It could easily happen!”
McManaman gets a lot of stick as a commentator on BT Sport, but these comments were sheer class.
