RED BULL CAN’T AFFORD TIERNEY
RB Leipzig Celtic
A trip to Saxony in the former East Germany wouldn’t top the list for many footballers asked to name their sporting hotspots.
But Craig Gordon breaks the mould. Tonight he hopes to break German hearts.
The keeper landed in Leipzig yesterday with the Celtic squad and had good reason to recall his first visit to this neck of the woods. In 2014 and with his career on the line, Gordon launched his comeback bid just 100 miles from the Red Bull Arena where he will tonight be Celtic’s last line of defence against RB Leipzig. Gordon had been sidelined for over two years when he pulled on a Celtic BIG-SPENDING RB Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick last night admitted the megabucks Bundesliga men don’t have enough cash to capture Kieran Tierney.
The Red Bull bankrolled German gaffer hailed the Celtic star as one of the hottest prospects in Europe.
Rangnick admitted he would need to break the bank to land Hoops ace Tierney.
He said: “Tierney, Mcgregor and Edouard are great talents in Scottish football. Tierney in particular is one of the biggest talents in Europe.
“He can defend and he
GROUP B
Dlikes to get forward. Those three are good players but Celtic are a club that is well known across Europe for not letting players go for a bargain.
“We are not interested in them – because we don’t have the kind of money needed to invest in those players!”
LFafter so long on the sidelines through injury.
“Hopefully, there’s a few more happy memories by the end of this game. I kept a clean sheet – but I don’t remember too much else about it.
“You always have to think positively regardless who you are playing – any team can win any game regardless of who you play.
“If we can defend well and keep them out then we can give ourselves a good chance to take something. “There’s a few talents in their team and we’ve looked at a lot of their players over the last couple of days.
“The manager wants us to have courage on the ball and play our football regardless of being home or away and that means attacking when we can.”
Brendan Rodgers (inset) arrives in Germany looking at fringe players to bail him out of an injury and suspension crisis which sees him with without James Forrest, Tom Rogic, Scott Brown, Leigh Griffiths and possibly Filip Benkovic.
A■ This will be Chelsea’s first-ever meeting with Belarusian rivals.
■ BATE have lost three of their four meetings with English clubs (W1) – losing 1-2 at home to Everton but beating them at Goodison in 2009-10, and losing twice to Arsenal last season.
■ Chelsea are looking to win their first three group-stage games in major European competition for the first time since the 2010-11 Champions League campaign. ■ BATE’S win at MOL Vidi FC on matchday one ended a run of 12 away games without a win in major European competition, excluding qualifiers (D2 L10).