Neil Lennon refused to buy rival Dan Petrescu’s claims about needing a miracle to sink Celtic.
The wily CFR Cluj coach attempted to turn the heat onto the Hoops ahead of the first-leg showdown in the Dr Constatin Radelescu Stadium by virtually writing-off his own team’s chances of progress.
Petrescu launched a gushing charm offensive in which he pointed to the budgets and the quality of players in the respective squads.
The home boss even went as far as to say Celtic could emulate Ajax’s run to the semi-finals in future years if they keep their best players, but Lennon refused to fall into the trap.
Celtic’s manager smiled when informed of Petrescu’s comments and said: “Dan’s trying to play down their chances.
“They are champions of Romania, in good form recently and came through a tough tie in the last round.
“We are not buying into that at all. They have a good core squad and quality. They are a threat, they score goals and they don’t give much away.
“I don’t know what their budget is. I have a fair idea what ours is, but on the night budgets go out the window and the team that plays the strongest will prevail.
“That’s why I don’t buy Dan’s comments about it being miracle. It’s going to be a tough tie.”
Petrescu’s laid it on thick in a clear plan designed to take pressure off his own side continued as he said: “Celtic are the favourites. They should think about Slavia Prague [in the next round], not us.
“We are not very lucky to draw Celtic at this moment. I watched them play and I was impressed.
“In the first five games this season they have scored 19 goals and conceded only two. I am sure that is going to be very tough for us.
“Everything is in Celtic’s favour, the tradition, the budget, the players, the money they can spend.
“We cannot buy players. We only sign free players, but Celtic can buy for three or four million pounds.
“For the last seven or eight years we haven’t been in the group stage of the Champions League and it will be a miracle for us to qualify.
“We haven’t invested enough, we don’t have enough money. It’s difficult to build great teams to reach the group stage and that’s why we have lost co-efficient points with Uefa and we cannot qualify directly for the group stage.
“Ten years ago, I was winning the league for Unirea and I played directly in the group stage and beat Glasgow Rangers that I remember, for one.
“Those were different times. Now to get to the group stage you have to win four games and that is very tough for Romanian teams.
“We need a perfect game and not to concede a goal because that will be very important.
“But with the way Celtic play it will be very difficult to stop them. Our main problem is how to stop them scoring.
“If they qualify, I’m sure Celtic will do well because they have a very young team and also big quality. “I think Celtic one day, if they don’t sell the players, they can become like Ajax and what they did last year.
“I like [Ryan] Christie and [Mikey] Johnston. Christie has scored six goals already this season. The striker [Odsonne] Edouard is also very good.
“[Scott] Brown is very important for the balance of the team. He is a very clever player and he knows where to be at the right time.
“He is the most experienced player in the team. But alongside him, [Callum] McGregor is also very, very clever. I think they have good players all over the pitch and they can win against any team, not only against Cluj.”
