After being paired with Icelandic club KR Reykjavik in the qualifying round for the Champions League 2014-15 season, Celtic will be expected to have a tough time with cold. However, manager Ronny Deila says that he will make sure that his players are made aware of the tough conditions that they can expect from the match. Scottish clubs need to go through the qualifying round in order to make it into the group stages of the Champions League. The lack of Rangers in the Scottish Premier league puts qualification to this tournament extremely important for Celtic.
This is the only way they can test themselves against the top opposition. Much will be expected from the club as they prepare for the new regime under Ronny Deila. Under the stewardship of Neil Lennon, they reached the last 16 of the Champions League two years ago. They were knocked out by Italian club Juventus. Even reaching the last 16 will be regarded as a major achievement, but for now, the sights will be set upon the group stages. Celtic will get as much as £ 30 million from the group stages, which will be a huge amount for the club.
The Scottish Premier league is not rewarding – compared English Premier league – in terms of TV revenue. After the draw was made, Ronny Deila said that he was happy with the outcome. The first leg will be on July 15 or 16.
“Icelandic football has improved a lot in the last few years. They are hard-working players with a good team spirit. They will be well organised too. But we are Celtic. We should be a better team than them over two matches. Now it’s all about doing everything right in pre-season to get the squad physically and mentally prepared for these games. It could be better and it could be worse. I think it’s an OK draw,” said Deila.