Loovens up for Celtic’s Italian job

Celtic now have to give it one last push in their final Europa League Group I fixture away to Udinese on December 15 to get through to the knockout stages of the tournament, insists Glenn Loovens.

A 1-0 defeat at home to Atletico Madrid last night confirmed the Spanish club’s qualification but left the Hoops needing to beat Udinese to leapfrog the Italian club into second place.

An Arda Turan strike in the 29th minute separated the sides but the Parkhead defender was buoyed enough by Celtic’s performance to be confident of overcoming Udinese, who drew 0-0 with bottom side Rennes in France.