Celtic 'a few additions away' from competing in Europe - Neil Lennon
Neil Lennon led Celtic to a famous win over Barcelona in 2012
Celtic are "a few additions away" from competing at a "good level" in Europe, believes manager Neil Lennon.
Lennon was the last Celtic boss to lead the club into the knockout stages of the Champions League, taking them to the last 16 in 2012/13.
And he feels Ajax's midweek success - beating European champions Real Madrid 4-1 to end their three-year reign as holders - should bolster Celtic.
"It should be a great inspiration for clubs like us," he said.
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"It takes a bit of time to build teams for that level. It took me three years to really build a good team to compete at a good level and get through the group.
"This team, with a few more additions, would be capable of competing at that level again."
Seven years ago, Lennon's side famously beat Barcelona 2-1 as they progressed from a group that also included Benfica and Spartak Moscow.
Their run in Europe was eventually ended over two legs by Juventus.
Since then, Ronny Deila and Brendan Rodgers both failed to take Celtic that far in Europe, with Rodgers guiding Celtic into the Champions League group stages and managing to reach the last 32 of the Europa League in the past two seasons.
'Business as usual'
Lennon does not yet know if he will still be in charge of Celtic next season, having taken over the reigns until the end of the season following Rodgers' departure to Leicester City.
Scott Sinclair, Dedryck Boyata, Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre, Cristian Gamboa and Dorus de Vries are out of contract at the end of the season.
Loan signings Jeremy Toljan, Oliver Burke, Timothy Weah and Filip Benkovic are all due to return to their parent clubs, potentially leaving Celtic with a summer rebuilding job.
"I am meeting with Peter [Lawwell, chief executive] on Wednesday and with Lee [Congerton, head of recruitment] about recruitment going forward," Lennon said.
"It is just business as usual, club business. And I am part of that."
Source: bbc.com
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