Henrik Larsson believes Celtic can go all the way in reaching a European Cup final if they are patient with manager Brendan Rodgers and sign up new players.
Rodgers finished the season on a high by claiming Celtic’s 37th Scottish Cup of the club’s history with a 2-1 win over Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Sunday, following the Hoops’ Scottish Premiership and League Cup triumphs.
Speaking after Sunday’s Celtic Legends match on Parkhead, Larsson told the Herald that the former Liverpool manager needs time to build if the Bhoys are to excel in Europe by reaching a cup final.
“It’s going to be tough in Europe, but if they progress the way they are progressing then maybe one day they will do well. But let’s give them time to build,” Larsson said.
“If he wants to achieve a European final he will need to add players.
“Here we are putting pressure on Brendan Rodgers to try and reach a European final. I think he will need time. If he can achieve that straight away it would be amazing.”
Goals from Stuart Armstrong and Tom Rogic proved too much for Derek McInnes’ side on the weekend, as the latter scored in second-half injury time to complete a sublime treble in Rodgers’ first season.
Saturday’s triumph saw the Hoops finish the 2016-17 season unbeaten across all three Scottish competitions, finishing with a record points tally of 106 in the league.
However, the Hoops were unable to succeed in the Champions League, reaching the group stages but only earning three points and failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League after Christmas.
Larsson captained Celtic’s Heroes against Lubo Moravcik’s Heroes on Sunday, as the Swede scored a sensational hat-trick in a 5-2 win, with Moravcik, Kris Commons, Stiliyan Petrov and Harald Brattbakk also getting their names on the score sheet.
Both sides boasted a whole host of former Celtic stars as they played in front of 60,000 fans with all the proceeds raised going towards Celtic’s Foundation Programme.