Long-time admirer of the green and white side of Glasgow, Barcelona legend Xavi has once again expressed his love for Celtic ahead of the Champions League qualification rounds.
Still playing at the age of 37 with Qatari club Al Sadd, the Spanish midfielder was speaking ahead of this morning's first-qualifying round [via Daily Record] where Celtic learned that they would await the winner of La Fiorita vs Linfield in the second round, and he expressed his belief that due to the history and size of the club, Celtic should not have to play in the qualification rounds.
I don’t think that Celtic should be a club that has to qualify for the Champions League.
When you consider the size of the club, their history, their stadium – they should qualify automatically by winning their league.
But the rules are the rules and the important thing is that they qualify for the group stages.
His pal Lionel Messi said similar last year, and Celtic fans surely won't be complaining if the annual Barcelona/Celtic love-in emerges again next year. Andres Iniesta has been uncharacteristically quiet, so it may be his turn to pipe up.
In all seriousness, Xavi does know his stuff and cited the ability to hold on to Moussa Dembele as a key factor in Celtic's Champions League challenge, where he believes that the club has grown enough to be targeting the knockout stages of the competition, rather than be happy to reach the groups.
With Rodgers as coach and players they now have, I think Celtic’s ambition should be more than qualifying for the group stage, it should be to make it to the last 16.
The most important thing is that Celtic keep their big players – Dembele was one of the top forwards in Europe last season and any club must firstly make sure that they keep their best players.
It's clear that Barca's trip to Park Head in 2012 left a lasting effect on the squad, as Messi and Xavi in particular have been somewhat obsessed with Celtic ever since Victor Wanyama and Tony Watt saw the Bhoys do a number on side that was in the middle of dominating European football.
