Petrov backs Rodgers to bring back magical European nights

Former Celtic star Stiliyan Petrov has backed his former club to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League and says that playing in front of the ‘magical’ crowd at Parkhead gives them a huge advantage.

The Hoops were embarrassed in the first leg of their qualifier against the Lincoln Red Imps last week, but Petrov told The Scotsman that the reaction to that loss has been a bit over the top, and fully expects his former side to get the job done tomorrow night.

He said:

I think the result last week will be just a blip for Brendan 
Rodgers and the squad. It’s important to keep things in perspective.

If the defeat been by a few goals then there would be serious cause for concern, but that’ not the case. There will be a determination from Brendan and the players to put on a good performance and win the game by a few goals at Celtic Park.

Petrov also spoke about his time playing European ties for Celtic and he believes that the new players in the squad will be ‘blown away’ when they hear Parkhead at its loudest.

The Celtic supporters will have a role to play. I was fortunate enough to play for Celtic for seven years and the feeling of playing in front of a packed Parkhead was always a 
highlight. The Celtic supporters generate an incredible atmosphere and it will be such an advantage this season to have that back again.

I’m sure they will help the team qualify for the Champions League. The supporters haven’t had this tournament for the past two years and they are desperate to bring it back to their club. The journey starts this week and they want to see it develop all the way through to December for the final matches in the group stages.

I’m sure Brendan and the new signings will be blown away by the support generated by the Celtic supporters. It’s thrilling. For example, the night we beat Juventus 4-3 in 2001 was a particular highlight. The atmosphere was unbelievable. It definitely brings the best out in players. More recently, Celtic beat Barcelona 2-1 when Neil Lennon was the manager and, again, that was just incredible.

Finally, the Aston Villa man, who is currently attempting to make a comeback after battling leukemia, said that he thinks the club made a great decision by appointing Brendan Rodgers as manager and backed him to be successful.

With Brendan as manager, I’ve a feeling the magical European nights are on their way back. I think his appointment is a huge statement from the club. He is a top class manager and I’ve followed his career since he was at Swansea and then Liverpool. During my career at Aston Villa I played against his teams and the brand of football was always slick, entertaining and impressive.