Ronny Deila: Qarabag will be "fantastic challenge"

Ronny Deila has said that Celtic's Champions League tie with Qarabag FK will be a "fantastic challenge" for the Scottish champions.

The Azerbaijan side became the first team from their country to win a Europa League group stage match last season with a 1-0 victory over eventual finalists Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

The manager told The Scotsman: "They beat Dnipro, who were in the final, and [drew with] Inter Milan as well. So we have to be up at the Inter Milan level that we were to beat them, which is going to be a fantastic challenge for us.

"We have to create the performance we did against Inter Milan, and then we also need the fans in Celtic Park on Wednesday. That's so unbelievably important, because to play at Celtic Park against 60,000 fans is the worst thing you can do as an opponent.

"We have to use everything we have to make a good result in the first leg. Hopefully everyone understands that the fans are so important to get the intensity into the game that we need. It strikes fear in everybody. We have the best fans in the world and we have to show that on Wednesday."

Celtic progressed to the third qualifying round with a 6-1 aggregate win over Icelandic side Stjarnan.