Frank Rijkaard's side drew 0-0 in Glasgow against a defensive Rangers side in the group stage in October in a dull encounter that led to Barca striker Lionel Messi condemning the Light Blues' tactics as being "anti-football".

Despite dropping those two points in Glasgow, Barcelona won the return game at the Nou Camp 2-0 and cruised through to the last 16, where they face the Hoops in the first leg at Celtic Park tomorrow.

Portugal international Deco was straightforward in his assessment of both Old Firm clubs.

He said: "Celtic are a stronger team than Rangers.

"They will not play so far back in defence and they will take more risks when going forward."

Deco's regard for the present Hoops side is not borne from previous encounters with the Scottish champions.

Barcelona are the only team to win at Celtic Park in the Champions League when ex-Celtic hero Henrik Larsson scored in a 3-1 win in September 2004.

Deco scored his first goal for Barcelona that night following his move from Porto where he also scored to help the Portuguese side beat Celtic 3-2 after extra-time in the 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville.

Larsson scored a double for Celtic in that final before moving to the Nou Camp and Deco insists that the absence of the Swede is significant.

He said: "I have good memories of playing against Celtic.

"I won the UEFA Cup against them and I scored my first goal for Barcelona at Celtic Park.

"The two other Celtic teams I have played against are as strong as this side.

"But Celtic lost Larsson and in doing that they lost a very good player.

"We are only concerned with them as a team, not so much as individuals.

"We have come here to win and as long as we can control the ball then we will be fine."

Asked if Celtic could be dangerous from the free-kicks of Shunsuke Nakamura, which have proved to be a potent weapon for Gordon Strachan's side in Europe, Deco said: "No, I don't think so.

"They have a strong, direct game with players who will play until the last minute to get a result."

Barcelona assistant coach Johan Neeskens, speaking in place of head coach Rijkaard who will serve a touchline ban tomorrow night, was reluctant to make comparisons between the two Old Firm clubs.

However, the former Holland international reeled off a list of possible dangers in the Celtic side.

He said: "Celtic have changed a lot in the last four years so you cannot compare them and now and you also cannot compare Celtic with Rangers or vice versa.

"It is a team game with Celtic and they are a very strong team.

"They have had good results at home in the Champions League against AC Milan, Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk.

"They scored lots of goals and have strong players like (Aiden) McGeady, Nakamura, (Jan) Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald.

"So when they attack they have qualities that can hurt us but we will do our best to play our game."

Rumours circulated that Messi and Ronaldinho will start on the bench tomorrow night but Neeskens refused to reveal the likely Barcelona line-up.

He said: "We are not going to change the way we play but I will not tell you who is going to be playing.

"Everyone who travelled over is ready to play."