Fenerbahce coach feels sorry for Celtic

Fenerbahce coach Vitor Pereira says that he sympathises with Celtic, and says that Ronny Deila’s men have been unlucky in the group.

Celtic travel to Turkey knowing that they will finish bottom of Group A regardless of the result, while their opponents need a point to guarantee qualification to the next round, as a loss and an Ajax win against Molde would see the Dutch side advance ahead of them.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Pereira said that the Hoops had been unlucky in the group, and that they deserved to have more than two points after five games.

Teams need luck and Celtic have not had that small element of luck so far. Luck was not with them. They paid hugely for small errors – sometimes a stopped ball or counter-attack cost them. Against Ajax, Celtic wanted to score but they made one error and Ajax scored but it was an even match.

When the group draw was made, many observers thought two of Ajax, Celtic and Fenerbahce would advance to the knockout stages, but it is Molde who are the only team who are guaranteed to be in the last-32 after five matches, and Pereira says that shows how strong the group has been.

We have been in a challenging group. Before the group started people did not know Molde and they say they are surprised by them, but Molde has proven that they are a dangerous team.

Speaking about the first meeting between the sides that took place in early October, the Fenerbahce coach said his team were lucky not to lose, and also said he expects a difficult game this week.

The first game at Celtic was very challenging for us. We had lost our balance and the minute we lost control of the game we lost two goals but then we were lucky enough to have a tie. Our aim is to win but I am sure Celtic will be fighting for their honour and they are going to try to prove that they don’t deserve to be in this position in this group.