LUBOMIR MORAVCIK insists that the Celtic players are feeling the benefits of having a rival to overhaul as he claimed the Glasgow club need a strong Rangers in order to become the best versions of themselves.
The Slovakian, who is a cult figure at Parkhead, was signed by former manager Jo Venglos in 1998 before eventually departing the East End in 2002 with two league titles, two Scottish Cups and solitary League Cup during under his belt.
Rangers saw successive title tilts wither in recent years until Steven Gerrard led the Govan outfit to the Premiership trophy last term.
It was the Ibrox club’s first piece of major silverware since its financial implosion in 2012 and sparked Ange Postecoglou’s revolution at Celtic, with the Greek-Australian returning the team to the top of the league standings with five matches left to play.
Things weren’t quite so rosy on the continent, though, as Celtic were dumped out of the Europa Conference League by Bodo/Glimt while Rangers have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Moravcik believes that Rangers’ resurgence has led to standards being raised at Celtic and thinks that having a strong challenger is vital not only to his former club, but to the entirety of Scottish football, as he outlined his hope that Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men can continue to progress in Europe.
“I don’t know the situation at Rangers but without Rangers Celtic are half,” Moravcik said. “It’s not a full Celtic.
“Celtic need Rangers, Rangers need Celtic. Scottish football needs both.
“I hope Rangers keep going because even if you lose next season you can win.
“This season Rangers were much better in Europe than Celtic. Against Bodo they were no good, we have to say. I didn’t even know which country they came from but they beat Roma on Thursday night in the last minute.
“When you play in Europe it can be tiring and you are playing against a Celtic team who are not in Europe and are really motivated to win the league.
“Rangers have a second leg against Braga and a semi-final against Celtic. They maybe have to sacrifice something.
“If you want to win both you can lose both. If you are greedy you can end up with nothing.
“Everyone wants to win everything but it’s hard three days after playing Braga to play Celtic, especially without a big player like [Alfredo] Morelos.
“It’s not an easy situation for Van Bronckhorst. If you’re greedy you can end up with nothing. If you focus on one maybe you win it.”
Lubo Moravcik was speaking at an event to promote 'An Evening with Martin O'Neill' at the SEC Armadillo on May 29th. Martin will be joined by Lubo, Chris Sutton, Paul Lambert and Jackie McNamara. Tickets available from ticketmaster.com.
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