The Celtic manager, Ronny Deila, has dismissed any notion his side will face a faded giant in the form of Internazionale in the last 32 of the Europa League.
Inter, who are 10th in Serie A and 22 points from the top, have travelled to Glasgow for the first leg of their clash with the Scottish champions. Wider questions have recently been asked in Italy, amid fears that the nation’s football scene has been left behind by other countries.
“If you can buy players from Bayern Munich and Arsenal, you can see the level we are talking about here,” said Deila of Inter.
“One of those players was the price of our entire team. This is a very big club and Roberto Mancini has not gone there to be in the middle of the table.
“He has got his money to spend in January and he will get more. You can see their progress in the past two matches. Every one of them [are] big international players and the Europa League is their biggest chance to win something.”
More than that, this tournament represents Mancini’s best hope of a return to the Champions League next season, as the winners of the Europa League qualify for Europe’s top competition. It was no surprise Mancini stressed on Wednesday evening that the Europa League is “very important” to his club.
Deila, who is coming towards the end of his maiden season in charge, also refused to accept his progress will be judged in Europe. Celtic’s vast resource superiority over the rest of Scotland means domestic success in the current climate is almost taken for granted. They are in the midst of a six-game winning run in the league.
“I think people will judge me and the others based on whether we are entertaining the fans and whether they are enjoying watching us,” said the Norwegian.
“Are we winning trophies and, thirdly, are we seeing progress? Can we see the club is moving in the right direction? I work to improve the club and if people are happy or not we will see. But you also have to see behind results. If we beat Inter Milan and have been so lucky, with Craig Gordon making 15 saves, I’m still not stupid. I know we have been lucky. Hopefully we can show a good performance and show we can deal with these big teams.”
Mancini’s knowledge of Deila and vice versa stems from when the Celtic manager, then working in Norway, visited Manchester City to study training methods. “I remember that very well, even though it was three or four years ago,” Mancini said. “Ronny is a young manager but you can see he is a good manager because his teams play good football. “This will be a very difficult match for us. Celtic don’t play the long ball style, they have good, technical football players.”
Celtic (4-2-3-1, probable) Gordon; Matthews, Denayer, Van Dijk, Izaguirre; Bitton, Brown; Mackay-Steven, Johansen, Armstrong; Griffiths.
Internazionale (4-3-1-2, prob) Handanovic; Santon, Ranocchia, Juan, Dodo; Kovacic, Medel, Guarín; Hernanes; Icardi, Shaqiri.
Referee: I Vad (Hungary)
