LISBON Lion Bertie Auld fears the last 16 of the Champions League is already beyond Celtic this season.
The former Hoops star was disappointed to see his old club held to a drab goalless draw by Danish champions Aalborg in their group opener, before suffering a narrow defeat away to Villarreal.
The Scottish champions now face the daunting prospect of a double-header against favourites Manchester United as they attempt to salvage their European campaign.
But, after reaching the knockout stages for the last two years, Auld believes a UEFA Cup spot is the best Gordon Strachan's men can hope for this time around.
He said: "The UEFA Cup is more likely but the important thing is that Gordon Strachan and the players are still getting that experience of playing at a higher level, rather than just playing in the SPL.
"It's definitely not a consolation prize. The most important thing is learning and achieving something.
"I think it was a great achievement by Rangers to reach the final last season. Even though they got beaten, it was still a great achievement to get there.
"We don't have the quality to win the section but we have a group of players who will definitely battle to get a place, whether that's second place or third place.
"Aalborg was a disappointment to just get the one point because we thought we would win that game."
Celtic's problems away from home in the Champions League have been well-documented, having so far failed to record a win on the road in the competition's current format.
Auld fully expects that unwanted record to still be intact when Celtic return from Old Trafford later this month - but has backed Strachan's men to record that long-awaited victory against Aalborg.
Speaking at the launch of a Bhoy Called Bertie; The Bertie Auld Story, he added: "We are good enough and we have the players to beat Aalborg away from home and the players themselves realise how important that is for Celtic.
"To be fair, they are getting 90 minutes of effort and that's all we need over there.
"We did extremely well at United's ground before and it was a great game. They will be hurting because we beat them at Parkhead and they will want to make the point that they are European champions.
"They won't want to be embarrassed. They have superstars there who win games individually, as well as collectively. At this moment in time, I think Old Trafford would be beyond us."
The Scottish champions now face the daunting prospect of a double-header against favourites Manchester United as they attempt to salvage their European campaign.
But, after reaching the knockout stages for the last two years, Auld believes a UEFA Cup spot is the best Gordon Strachan's men can hope for this time around.
He said: "The UEFA Cup is more likely but the important thing is that Gordon Strachan and the players are still getting that experience of playing at a higher level, rather than just playing in the SPL.
"It's definitely not a consolation prize. The most important thing is learning and achieving something.
"I think it was a great achievement by Rangers to reach the final last season. Even though they got beaten, it was still a great achievement to get there.
"We don't have the quality to win the section but we have a group of players who will definitely battle to get a place, whether that's second place or third place.
"Aalborg was a disappointment to just get the one point because we thought we would win that game."
Celtic's problems away from home in the Champions League have been well-documented, having so far failed to record a win on the road in the competition's current format.
Auld fully expects that unwanted record to still be intact when Celtic return from Old Trafford later this month - but has backed Strachan's men to record that long-awaited victory against Aalborg.
Speaking at the launch of a Bhoy Called Bertie; The Bertie Auld Story, he added: "We are good enough and we have the players to beat Aalborg away from home and the players themselves realise how important that is for Celtic.
"To be fair, they are getting 90 minutes of effort and that's all we need over there.
"We did extremely well at United's ground before and it was a great game. They will be hurting because we beat them at Parkhead and they will want to make the point that they are European champions.
"They won't want to be embarrassed. They have superstars there who win games individually, as well as collectively. At this moment in time, I think Old Trafford would be beyond us."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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