The mind games look to have well and truly started ahead of this weeks Europa League tie against Spanish side Real Betis.
Earlier, we brought you the story from right-back Hector Bellerin, who claimed that all the pressure was on Celtic going into this game.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini has now claimed that the Hoops could have a slight advantage, hitting out at his sides fixture scheduling as they face Granada on Monday evening.
“While some games are moved, others are not, which is not good for the competition.
“It seems bad to me to play on Monday as well, Celtic play on Saturday. They have 48 hours more to recover and prepare for the game.
“These are small advantages that in the end it is not good to give them. Make no mistake; the most important game is on Monday, the league cannot be neglected.
“The people who organised this need to look at themselves. No one wants to play on a Monday at that time- Tuesday is a working day for the fans.
“In my opinion, the Europa League is more difficult for clubs than the Champions League because when you play away from home, you don’t arrive back until Friday morning, and most often you have to play on the Sunday. It’s very demanding.
“We have tried to set up a team that can compete in three competitions. We haven’t started too well in the league in terms of points, but I think we have deserved more points.
“But last season, we won our opening two league games and were bottom of the table after 11 games, so I am not reading too much into it.
“I have nothing to reproach the players about in terms of attitude and commitment. But I repeat, we cannot afford to neglect the league for Europe. We will treat the match against Granada as if it is a final.”
The Hoops travel to Seville on Thursday with an earlier kick-off of 5:45 PM to start their Europa League group stage campaign.
With Betis playing on Monday evening, it may hand Ange Postecoglou’s side some sort of slight advantage due to the recovery time. But Betis will still be more than capable going into this game, especially early in the season and being at home.
It would be a big boost to kick off the group with a good result and try to set down a marker. Fingers crossed, Ange and his side can do that going into Thursday.
