Champions League draw: Second place is do-able for Celtic, says Neil Lennon

In an unprecedented move, Celtic had invited the media to witness the Monte Carlo ceremony in the company of Lennon and many of his first team playing squad. It was a measure of the club’s pride at their return to European football’s top table for the first time in four years and also an indication of how relaxed the manager is about his team’s current progress.

When Fabio Cannavaro, charged with drawing the Pot 4 clubs, pulled Celtic out of the glass bowl first, a flicker of a smile spread across Lennon’s face. When they were then placed in Group G, alongside Barcelona, Benfica and Spartak Moscow, his demeanour barely changed.

All three teams are well known to Celtic, each of them having been opponents at some stage of the tournament within the past five years. For Lennon, the task facing his team is both clear-cut and achievable. He expects Barcelona to win the group at a canter and believes Celtic are capable of winning the three-way battle for second place and qualification for the last 16.

“It’s do-able,” was Lennon’s succinct reaction. “The top two is do-able. I’m not going to say we are going to do it, but it’s not beyond the expectations to do it.

“You would imagine there will be three teams going for second place with Barcelona the outstanding team in the group and clear favourites. We’ll just have to see where it takes us. It’s a tough draw, of course it is. All four teams play open football. The three teams are familiar to us; we have recent history with all of them. It’s just brilliant to be in there. We could have been in Group D with Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax, so we have to be grateful for that. But it’s a very attractive group and we’re really looking forward to it.”

Lennon knows his team’s away form will hold the key to those ambitions of a second-place finish. Having followed up draws at Rennes and Udinese in last season’s Europa League with wins in Helsinki and Helsingborg in this year’s Champions League qualifiers, he has grounds for optimism on that front, adding: “If we can make the most of our home form like in previous years, then great. We will have to brush up on our away form which has been our Achilles heel over the years.

“We have never done well away from home in the group stage. We are going to have to, by the looks of it, and try to pick up a point here and there if we can. Barcelona home and away is very difficult.

“You are just hoping it is a three-way fight for the other place. Our away form in Europe has been good recently – unbeaten in our last four – but it’s going to be a tall order in this group. If we can get a point in either of the away games against Benfica and Spartak Moscow, it would be fantastic.”

The matches against Barcelona are the headline attraction for Celtic, beaten by the Catalan giants in the 2004-05 group stage and in the last 16 three seasons later. Lennon, who played in Celtic’s shock Uefa Cup fourth round win over Barcelona  in 2003-4, is relishing the  challenge.

“Barcelona are the ultimate test for any manager and for any team,” he said. “Maybe a year or two ago they were one of the greatest teams ever, if not the greatest, but they have some of the greatest players in the world and some of the greatest of  all time. In terms of glamour, they don’t come much bigger than that.

“I played in the Nou Camp. I didn’t see very much of the ball, to be fair. You very rarely do against Barcelona. You have to be very well organised to get anything there. It’s a great football arena, one of the best stadiums in the world.

“We will be playing against Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi. The names roll off the tongue. Hopefully they just play those three against us, then we might have a chance!”.

The pairing with Spartak Moscow, who Celtic defeated on penalties in the 2007-8 Champions League qualifiers, has added spice as it sees the return to Parkhead of Republic of Ireland winger Aiden McGeady. Lennon expects the Celtic fans to give a positive reception to the player sold to the Russian club for  £9 million two years ago.

“I think he’ll get a really good welcome,” said Lennon. “He served the club brilliantly. He never left under acrimonious circumstances. A really good bid came in for him and he wanted to further his career in Moscow.

“By all accounts, he has done really well. He played a crucial role in the goal that got them through to the group stage. It has enhanced his international career going there. He seems to be a regular in [Ireland coach Giovanni] Trappatoni’s team now. So his career has taken a step forward. He might be an even better player now than he was when he left here.

“I don’t really get to see much of Spartak’s games, but I’ll study them pretty hard now.”