Venglos urges caution from Celtic

Jozef Venglos today warned Celtic of the threat his former club face in Bratislava next week.

The Slovakian, who managed the Hoops from July 1998 to June 1999, met with new boss Gordon Strachan last night after watching brave Artmedia overturn a two-goal deficit to defeat Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty 4-3 on aggregate in extra-time.

That set-up a mouth-watering double-header with the Glasgow giants in the Champions League second qualifying round, starting with a first-leg clash in the Slovakian capital next week.

The Artmedia players celebrated with Venglos and Hoops great Lubo Moravcik after the game last night and the former Aston Villa boss has warned they are more than capable of toasting a major upset by claiming Celtic’s prized scalp.

He said: “My former club will go into the game as favourites and will come with a great reputation, history, top players and a top manager.

“Bratislava have great respect for Celtic and will know a lot about them but that love will end on the field.

“This is a big competition and an opportunity for Bratislava and this will be the biggest game of their lives.

“They have done well so far as champions, but they’ll want to seize this opportunity to make a big name for themselves.

“Maybe 95% of the national team are playing outside the country but [Celtic’s Slovak defender] Stanislav Varga will tell them that many of these players will one day be looking for big moves abroad and this is an ideal chance for them to put themselves in the picture.

“Celtic have yet to start their season and Bratislava showed with their performance and courage last night that next week will be very dangerous for Celtic.”