MOUSSA DEMBELE has been named by Zenit St Petersburg boss Roberto Mancini as Celtic’s dangerman in tomorrow night’s Europa League last-32 crunch at Parkhead.
The French Under-21 international striker, who netted 32 goals in his debut season at the Hoops, can expect to be heavily marked by the Russians in the first leg tie.
Mancini said: “I like him as a player. I knew about him when he was at Fulham. He’s still young, but he’s a good player. He still needs to improve, but he will.
“I expect him to be Celtic’s main threat.
“I had three players who are at Celtic now I had at Manchester City, Scott Sinclair, Dedryck Boyata and Olivier Ntcham. They were all younger at the time, but good players. Nir Bitton was also on trial with us at Manchester.
“So, I know a lot of their players having worked with them.
“But it’s not just them, Celtic have plenty of other good players. I am very sorry that Boyata won’t play because of his injury, but they have many excellent players to choose from instead.
“I would not say Celtic lost a lot of important players. I know they did have a few recent injuries, but for a club like Celtic, this does not affect them.
“I can assure you we will certainly have a difficult match, despite their injuries. This will not affect the intensity of the game.”
