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Former Celtic star says defence isn’t good enough for Champions League

Related Topics: Dedryck Boyata, defender

Alan Stubbs believes former club Celtic will struggle in the Champions League as their defence isn’t good enough to play at that level.

Celtic reached the group stage after completing an 8-4 aggregate success over Astana, but Stubbs says the Scottish Premiership champions are set for a tough time in the competition proper.

“The only top-class defender they’ve got is (Kieran) Tierney,” Stubbs told the BBC.

“Domestically, (Erik) Sviatchenko, (Dedryck) Boyata, (Jozo) Simunovic are competent, but the Champions League is a whole new ball game.

“In the Champions League you need to allow Tierney to go forward, and that puts extra pressure on the two centre-backs and the opposite full-back.