CHRISTOPHER JULLIEN is convinced Celtic will answer their critics following the Cluj catastrophe.
The Hoops have played eight European ties this season, winning six, drawing one and losing one – the disastrous Champions League exit against the Romanians at Parkhead.
Jullien, bought for £7million from Toulouse in the summer, was left on the bench that dark evening in the east end of Glasgow as Neil Lennon’s men toppled to a dreadful 4-3 defeat.
Emphasising the x-certificate material on show that night, Dan Petrescu’s side couldn’t score a solitary goal in next three hours of football as they lost home and away to Slavia Prague who won 1-0 on both occasions.
However, the towering French centre-back, who scored his first goal for the club in the 4-1 victory over AIK Stockholm in Sweden last night, is certain the team will come back from the calamity and make an impact in the Europa League, irrespective of who they are drawn against in the group stages in Monaco at midday.
Jullien, 26, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “Every good player in the world at a big team just has to get up after a bad hit in the head.
“We showed we have this mentality. Of course, it was bad after the Champions League result. But now we just look at what is in front of us and what is in front of us is the group stage of the Europa League.
“We don’t know what happens in football this year, but we react well. We have shown good form after Cluj. That is what a good team does. We have a good mentality to get up after a bad hit.
“For me, that is what has come out of the defeat – that we are a good team. The performance here was all about the team. We did a really good job. The first goal was to stay focused.
“We won the first game 2-0 and knew we had to keep the same mentality. We knew they would come at us and press us but we believed in ourselves.
“The front four in the team – Odsonne, Jamesie, Ryan and Mikey – did a really good job.
HOOPY DAYS…Christopher Jullien is congratulated by Nir Bitton and Scott Brown after his first Celtic goal.
“They are great players and it’s good to be part of a win like that.
“It was a really good night for us defensively. But to score my first goal felt good. It was a strange situation for me to be in.
“We just had a good mentality and European football is something you want to play – you need it. It is a massive club.
“I am sure we are going to do well in the Europa League. We have the quality – we have everything we need to do well in this tournament.”
Jullien, who was joined on the scoresheet in Stockholm by James Forrest, Mikey Johnston and Lewis Morgan, added: “We have a good team, we have talent.
“We will keep playing each game with the same mentality we had here and the same fighting spirit.
“We hope to get out of the group and go further in the competition.
“Every guy in this team wants to win everything.”
