There won't be many teams in the Europa League with the quality of Arsenal and Glenn Loovens insists that Celtic have every chance of reaching the final of the competition next May. He played a big part in Feyenoord's run to the 2002 UEFA Cup final only to face misfortune when he was injured just before the final against Borussia Dortmund. The big defender had to watch from the stands as former Celt Pierre Van Hooijdonk scored twice in the Dutch club's 3-2 triumph over the Germans but now he wants to make up for that heartache.
"The bottom line is that Arsenal were much better than us." he said. "They knocked the ball about well. Of course it was harsh we conceded a penalty but if you are honest and look at the tie as a whole they deserved to win. But we will never know what would have happened in the second leg if we had got to half-time at 0-0. Maybe we could have got some pride at least in the one game."
"We can talk about three of the five goals we lost in two games and say it was bad luck or bad decisions." said Loovens. "But we have to be big enough to look at the whole picture and acknowledge Arsenal were superior. They passed the ball much better and we have to learn that lesson. But if we do I think Celtic can compete until the late stages of the Europa League."
"It's still a big prize to go for and a nice way to soften the blow of this defeat." said Celtic's number 22. "We have to learn from this and translate that into our performances in the Europa League. I honestly believe we can do well in that competition. If we can be a bit more composed on the ball then other teams will find it hard to play against us with our quality."
"I played for Feyenoord in three or four games on the way to the 2002 UEFA Cup Final." said the ex-Cardiff stopper. "I played both legs of the win in the early rounds against Rangers. But I missed the final because I got injured in the build-up. It was great that Feyenoord beat Dortmund but I had to watch all the excitement from the stand. Scottish clubs have a good record in recent years with Celtic and Rangers making the UEFA Cup Final and there's no reason why we can't do well and go for the prize this season."
Press reports back in Holland have credited Feyenoord with an interest in bringing him back to Rotterdam but Loovens insists that he is staying at Celtic Park. "The first and only thing to say about this is that I don't think Celtic would let me go so that's the end of the matter." he said. "I'm enjoying my time at Parkhead and have another three years here. That's all I'm thinking about."