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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Mark Walker

Celtic handed Champions League dark horses tag ahead of group stage

Feyenoord boss Arne Slot reckons Celtic could be dark horses in the Champions League because he knows nothing about them.

The Hoops were drawn against the Rotterdam side along with Atletico Madrid and Lazio in the group stages of Europe's premier competition and will face them first later this month in the Netherlands.

And the 44-year-old Dutch coach is excited about the draw.

He said: "I think it's a great draw.

"All of these opponents are great, traditional clubs with fantastic stadiums. For us, it's a very nice group.

"Celtic are a big club, but I am finding it difficult to assess them because I don't know much about them and I have personally never played against a Scottish team in Europe.

"But they will be a real challenge for us.

"Atletico Madrid always manage to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona despite having less financial muscle than them. They always do well in the Champions League.

"And of course, we played Lazio twice last season - we beat them in De Kuip but lost in Rome.

"It will be a great opportunity for us to play at this level in the Champions League instead of the Europa League."

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