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Sutton reacts to Celtic Europa League draw

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Image for Sutton reacts to Celtic Europa League draw

Chis Sutton has admitted that it’s “difficult” to judge whether Celtic will be able to beat Valencia after the two sides were drawn to play each other in the last-32 of the Europa League later this season.

The Hoops qualified for the knock-out stages of the Europa League for a second year in a row after Rosenborg held RB Leipzig to a draw on Thursday night, even though Brendan Rodgers’ side lost their final group game to Red Bull Salzburg.

Sutton has claimed that Valencia aren’t the feared side that they were in the past, but they clearly impressed him in their recent 2-1 win against Manchester United.

“Difficult tie to judge for Celtic as Valencia were a better team than Man United… they certainly aren’t the force they once were,” he said via his personal Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

OPINION

Valencia will win this game easily. Celtic only just scrapped through their group because RB Leipzig dropped the ball against Rosenborg while Valencia were beating Manchester United in the Champions League. There is a gulf in quality between these sides, even though Valencia are only 14th in La Liga right now. The Spanish top-tier has been very weird this season. We’ve seen Real Madrid look absolutely average in their domestic games while Barcelona have not really pulled away from the chasing pack. Teams like Alaves and Levante are in among the continental qualification spots right now, but it is clear that Valencia are still a much better side than them. Denis Cheryshev, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Dani Parejo and Michy Batshauyi are much better than anything Celtic have to offer. Brendan Rodgers will see his side crash out of the Europa League’s first knock-out round for a second year in a row.

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