Celtic boss Neil Lennon hopes spirit of Lazio can lead to another great away result in Copenhagen

Celtic manager Neil Lennon hails the travelling Celtic fans after a late goal by Olivier Ntcham silenced the Lazio supporters in the Stadio Olimpico. Picture: Paolo Bruno/Getty

The Scottish champions are still the only team to have beaten the Serie A title contenders in the Olympic Stadium this season, with sides such as Juventus and Inter Milan  having left the venue pointless since then.

That victory in the Europa League group stage was certainly a signature result for Neil Lennon in his progressive second spell as Celtic manager.

It underlined a new sense of confidence on the road in Europe for a club whose away record in both the Champions League and Europa League was once a source of embarrassment.

Celtic’s only away defeat in Europe this season came when they had already secured qualification from Group E and fielded a much-changed team in a dead rubber fixture against Cluj in Romania.

Lennon is hoping his players can summon up the spirit of their Roman adventure when their quest to make deeper progress into the tournament begins with the first leg of their last-32 tie against Copenhagen in Denmark tonight.

“The Lazio win gives us a huge amount of pride but that was in November,” said  Lennon.

“Now we are in February. It would be great to make inroads in the competition but this is going to be one tough game.

“The psychology of the game is different as well. I’m hoping we bring a big crowd with us and I’m hoping the players perform as well as we did in Rome. If we do, then we’ve got a good chance.

“There has been calmness about us away from home in Europe this season, good maturity, good control at times and I’m hoping for more of the same.

“We have to make sure we take a result back to Glasgow. It’s a difficult venue here.

“Defensively, Copenhagen are really well set up and they are a difficult team to break down at times.

“It will be cagey and we have to make sure we don’t lose concentration and get done on counter-attacks but I’d like to think we will have our fair share of the ball as well.”

Lennon is prepared for his side to be guinea pigs as they become the first Scottish team to play in a match with a video assistant referee, Celtic kicking off a couple of hours before Rangers face Braga as the controversial system is introduced to the Europa League.

Russian official Vitali Meshkov will be the man on the sidelines making the calls, and Lennon is grateful for the help provided by the Scottish FA’s refereeing department in the build-up. He said: “We had a briefing with Crawford Allan [head of referee operations], he came up with Willie Collum and they gave us the lowdown on what to expect.

“There will be a monitor at the side of the pitch and you can’t go near the referee while he’s looking at it.

“The briefing was a couple of weeks ago. We know what the machinations of that are and how it will work.

“The briefing was a help. The referee makes the decision then he has a look at the monitor and sees what he thinks and makes a call from there.

“All these things are new and it might take the players a bit by surprise but we’ll try to prepare them as well as possible for it.”

Celtic had no-one to blame but themselves when they lost on their last visit to Copenhagen back in 2006, when Lennon was a player in the side beaten 3-1 in a Champions League group stage game.

“That was a tough night,” he recalled. “We beat them 1-0 in Glasgow and had already qualified from the group when we played here.

“Maybe there wasn’t so much on it as there is now. I remember Jesper Gronkjaer was playing and they had a good, experienced team.

“Which is pretty much what you get from Copenhagen at any time. They’ve got a fair amount of talent in their squad as well. The atmosphere will be strong and they will make a lot of noise.”

Celtic have not won a post-group-stage knockout tie in Europe for 16 years, pre-dating the arrival of current captain Scott Brown, pictured far left, at the club.

The midfielder admits that making a telling impact in Europe is one of the few remaining items on his bucket list at the club.

“The manager always talks about reaching the Uefa Cup Final in Seville in 2003 and what a great occasion it was,” said Brown.

“I’m not saying we are going to reach the final this season but it would mean a lot to  me, and be a huge step for  this group of players, if we could go a lot further in the tournament.”