Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Let them feel our breath on their necks as our fans scream in their ears
HOOPS GAFFER RODGERS TELLS HIS PLAYERS TO SHOW NO FEAR
DREAM BIGGER. The slogan was emblazoned along both sides of the Paris St Germain team bus as it sat parked outside Celtic Park last night.
It could easily have been written across Brendan Rodgers’ tracksuit top.
With a season of group stage matches under his belt, the Celtic manager believes it is time to take the next step and won’t stop his players from thinking positively.
Group B is daunting. Tonight’s opener against the French giants encapsulating the sheer magnitude of the challenges ahead.
Celtic will face the most-expensive front-line ever assembled in world football. That trio of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani help take a squad market-value of close to over £700 million.
Rodgers wants aggression, he wants positivity, he wants the Paris St Germain players to “feel breath” on their necks as well as the voices of 60,000 frantic home fans in their ears.
And, most importantly, he wants his team to dream and aim high. Starting tonight.
Rodgers said: “You respect the level PSG are at, but the difference in our team now is the attitude. That’s key. It’s everything in these games.
“They have to feel us breathing very close to them. That’s how we play domestically and it’s how we play in other games in this competition.
“You can’t do it for 90 minutes, so you have to dip in and out of the pressure. But it’s our job to progress with real aggression.
“If you stand off top players, they will play around you, through you and over you. They have to feel that pressure, they have to feel the crowd. If you look at the Manchester City game here last season as a reference, there was similar expectation about it beforehand. So you hope you can go and impose your game.
“It’s going to be a great test for us and it doesn’t faze us.
“In the team meeting, we were all in a good place and we learned lessons from Barcelona last season.
After that, we took them on and performed very, very well .
“This year there is a different mentality and we go into the game with a real attitude to give everything, be physical, be aggressive and show our quality.
“Every challenge is big. It’s in the moment. No matter if you are Swansea or Liverpool manager, but at this level of competition its a big, big ask.”
Rodgers won’t get a billion to spend before tonight, but he expects a million in terms o f effort and commitment from his players.
You can’t take a wallet out onto the pitch and, for 90 minutes, Celtic and their boss believe they can compete.
Rodgers (left) said: “This is a game to go and enjoy. Make no bones about it, this is a superior team to us.
“But for us we take an attitude into the game. We’re very much a team and have the ability to play in this type of game.
“We have speed, strength and power so it’s a great chance for us to make a good start. It’s going to be a big challenge, but one we’re determined to embrace.
“This is a level where you have to stay calm, but we’re really looking forward to it.”