Yahoo Sports Confident Celtic can make Champions League progress - Corsie
Scotland captain Rachel Corsie has backed Celtic to make it through their opening Champions League qualifier – but fears Rangers may face too steep a mountain.
Jo Potter’s side will face English giants Arsenal in September, with the winner taking on either Atletico Madrid or Norwegian side Rosenborg for a place in the second qualifying phase.
Celtic face Finnish side KuPS in Lithuania in their qualifying competition, with the winner meeting either hosts FC Gintra or Moldovan champions Agarista CSF Anenii Noi 2020.
An Corsie believes Celtic’s confidence could carry through to the second round of the competition – where the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain await.
"Celtic do have a chance - playing a Finnish side, they'll be in a similar boat to Celtic, they'll back themselves in this first leg so it'll be about which side progresses between the two," she told the Behind the Goals podcast.
"You'd hope if Celtic can progress they'd be in a position to have confidence to get a result in that second game as well, but it is difficult."
But the scale of the challenge facing SWPL runners-up Rangers, warns Corsie, may be too much.
"Obviously Rangers finished in second place - and it means they're likely to face tougher nations," she said.
"If they get a result against Arsenal, the next teams they'd have to beat is either Atletico Madrid or Rosenborg, and again it's a really tough entry at this stages."
And co-host and former Scotland international Leanne Crichton agrees the strength and experience of Jonas Eidevall's side will be formidable.
"We know the side Arsenal have been - although they've probably been subject to more negativity this summer for the fact that Viv Miedema has signed for Man City and is a player they've allowed to leave the club.
"Whether they're ready to hit the ground running this early on in the season - we've seen that previously, last year things didn't go the way they would have liked.
"You would imagine Arsenal would look to learn from those experiences and be ready this year and they'd look at Rangers as a favourable draw for them."
