Christopher Jullien has set his sights on the Europa League and declared Celtic’s desire for success means they’re in it to win it.
Neil Lennon’s £7m summer signing from Toulouse is adamant the winning mentality embedded in the Parkhead squad means there is real belief that the club can go deep into competition when it gets underway on Thursday.
The Frenchman heads back to his homeland for Celtic’s curtain-raiser against Rennes and he believes it can be the first step on a long journey.
And, although the centre-back is making no brash statements about actually going all the way and winning the silverware, he admits that the mentality within the squad means Neil Lennon’s men will set out at the beginning with that very thought in their minds.
Asked if Celtic can go far in the tournament, Jullien said: “Yes, I believe we can, absolutely.
“Since I arrived here I have seen that all the players constantly have trophies on their minds. They want to win at everything, even in training. I think this is important for our team.
“That gives us hope and we will see what happens. We will take it all game by game and see what it is, but if you were to go into the locker room right now and ask each of them what their goal was they would tell you it is to bring that trophy home. And I’m just following them!
“I think the same way as them. Everything I do is geared to winning and I hope we can go on and do something really special in this competition.
“We don’t know what will happen. It’s game by game and we’ll see. In our heads we think of trophies. This is the way we should think.”
Celtic face a tough opener against Rennes, who sit second in the Ligue One table.
Lazio and Cluj are also in the Hoops' group and Jullien added: “We have to be ready for that game because it will give the tone for our European way.
“When you see the draw, every group has good teams, so it’s going to be tough and a really big challenge for us.
“I don’t know so much about Lazio. I know Serie A is tough and defensively they will be tough. They are really good there and it’s a strength. We will see. We have three teams and each one has their own strengths.”
