CELTIC come into the penultimate game of the UEFA Europa League group stages in the exceptional position of having already qualified for the knockout round. Maintaining that momentum is crucial according to Christopher Jullien who, in this week’s Celtic View, said topping the group is now a must.

“Now that we’ve qualified, the target will be to top the group,” said Jullien. “That would be the perfect end to the group stages, and we’ll do everything to make that possible because we don’t know what the draw in the knockout stages could bring.

“I believe we can keep the momentum that we have. We’ll go into every game in Europe looking to play the best game we can and we’ll see what we can take from that.”

It’s rare for any side in Europe to qualify from the group stages with two games to spare, and for Celtic to do that in a group containing Lazio and Rennes highlights the form Neil Lennon’s side have been in recently.

The guarantee of progressing to the next round regardless of the outcome in the remaining fixtures of the group stages provides a degree of comfort for Celtic. There’s no trace of complacency in the way Celtic are approaching the fixtures, however.

Momentum holds a lot of value for Jullien and his team-mates. The French defender said winning breeds more success and Celtic are determined to continue winning, starting with Rennes at Paradise tonight

“We’re at Celtic Park this time so that will be a huge advantage for us,” said Jullien. “Rennes haven’t been so strong away from home either. We’ll do our best to get the win.

“We felt we were capable of getting the win in the first game and since then we’ve improved a lot as a team. We believe we’re capable of doing great things and I can’t wait to get out and play this game

“The fact that we’ve already qualified takes away a little bit of the pressure and I’m sure we’ll see great things on the pitch as a result of that.

“We won’t be thinking about that in the game, though. Our attention is always on winning every tackle and taking every opportunity to come out on top of every battle.

“All the players in group want to win every game. That’s even the case in training. It won’t be any different in the game against Rennes because the hunger to win doesn’t lessen and we need to win if we’re going to win the group.

“This winning run makes a big difference because it makes the possibility of winning again feel easier. We just have to play our best football out there and I’m sure everything will work out. I have no doubt we can get the win in this game if we can continue this momentum we’ve built up.”

For the full interview with Chtistopher Jullien, see this week’s Celtic View, out now.

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Jullien aims for topping Group E in this week’s Celtic View