TONIGHT, 7.45, LIVE ON BT SPORT/ESPN
Ex-Bayern star insists this is chance for Kieran to show he belongs on Euro stage
OWEN HARGREAVES was a Bayern Munich rookie when he picked the pocket of the world’s most expensive player and knew then he’d arrived on the Champions League stage.
And that’s why he has told Celtic starlet Kieran Tierney to impose his game on Arjen Robben rather than worry about what the Dutchman might do to him.
Hargreaves feared the worst when he came up against Luis Figo in the 2001 Champions League semi-final second leg in Munich’s Olympic Stadium.
The Portuguese legend had moved to Real Madrid from arch-rivals Barcelona at the start of that season for almost £40million while Hargreaves was a 20-year-old taking his first steps in the Bayern top team.
But he played a key role in the 2-1 win, sealing a 3-1 aggregate victory for Ottmar Hitzfeld’s men, and went on to lift the trophy to join Steve McManaman as one of only two Englishmen to win the Champions League with a non-English club.
And Hargreaves wants Hoops and Scotland full-back Tierney to seize his opportunity to make a name for himself when he takes on his old club in the Allianz Arena in tonight’s Group B clash by putting the shackles on dangerman Robben.
He said: “These are the games that will take your reputation to a higher level on the European stage.
“You grow up watching these guys on the television and then suddenly you are out on the pitch playing against them.
“When I played against Figo for the first time he was the most expensive player in the world and I remember thinking, ‘I hope he doesn’t destroy me here.’
“But the game started and I nicked the ball off Figo and ran past Roberto Carlos. At that point I had an awakening on the pitch, thinking, ‘These guys have got two legs, just like me. Now I need to find a way to impose myself on them.’
“We won the semi-final and it gave me so much confidence. And while Bayern are heavy favourites if Tierney, or even Patrick Roberts, can get a bit of joy and confidence then those young players can grow incredibly in a game like this.
“For Tierney in particular, rather than be daunted by the prospect of facing Robben he has to be excited and see it as a challenge. Robben should be the one coming off the pitch saying, ‘Who the hell was that guy?’
“Robben gives everyone the runaround but Tierney should look to impose himself and take away what he does best. Make him go down the right wing.
“I’m not sure how Robben is able to cut in on his left foot every time he gets the ball. It’s remarkable really but Tierney should be hoping to stop him.
“He should be using that opportunity to show he belongs on this stage. The really good players take these opportunities.”
Former England heroes Gary Lineker and Steven Gerrard heaped praise on Tierney for his performance in Celtic’s 3-0 win in Anderlecht last time out.
Hargreaves is convinced the 20-year-old will make a big move but the ex-Man United and Man City midfielder said: “I’m not sure leaving Celtic just to go to a big club is the answer for him. Look at Roberts leaving Man City to sign for Celtic. He’s a Man City player and on paper that’s great but he hasn’t played for them yet. He’s had to go to Celtic to get games.
“Tierney’s competing for titles and playing in the Champions League. Maybe Celtic will look to sell him from a financial point of view at one point but the players must find the right club.”
Hargreaves, part of the Bayern side given a fright by Martin O’Neill’s Celtic in 2003 before winning 2-1, insists it’ll be a huge ask for Brendan Rodgers’s side to come away with anything but admits keeper Manuel Neuer’s absence gives them a chance.
The BT Sport pundit added: “For whatever reason Bayern haven’t been at it this season and Neuer is missing which is a big thing. If Celtic can get up the pitch then with Sven Ulreich in goal they can get something.
“It’s not that he’s not convincing, he’s just not Neuer.”
● BT Sport is where the best in sport go head to head, bringing you live coverage of the Premier League, Champions League and Europa League.
These are the games that will take your reputation to a higher level
HARGREAVES ‘The same old faces being linked with the Scotland job? We need someone young and should give them a four-year contract’
Munich tonight. Steven McBride, Cambuslang, said: “Bayern will show just how far Celtic are out of their depth at this level with a real hammering in Germany – just as PSG dished out in Glasgow.
“I don’t have any hope for this game and it’s going to be a damage limitation exercise.”
said: “Bayern are on a different planet to Celtic in terms of the talent they can recruit and their resources so it’s going to be another long night in Munich.
“This was always going to be a game where anything we get will be a bonus as it’s the Anderlecht matches that matter to us and making sure we finish third to claim the Europa League spot. I just hope we save face against Bayern.”
said: “I don’t recall ever preparing to watch a Celtic game in Europe with such a feeling of inevitability about the scoreline.
“Celtic are so far ahead of everyone else in Scotland but that won’t prevent Bayern from giving them a hammering and I fear the worst.”
One caller wasn’t happy with Motherwell’s Peter Hartley for his fighting talk ahead of a Betfred Cup semi-final with Rangers.
said: “Hartley is basically saying he wants to fight Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos with his remarks at the weekend.
“What a great advert for the already mocked and pilloried Scottish football.”
And finally a first, a call in praise of the Kilmarnock board.
said: “I hope the forward-thinking Kilmarnock board of Billy Bowie and John Kiltie is rewarded by the excellent appointment of Steve Clarke rather than taking the cheap option again.
“I know one swallow does not make a summer but the difference they showed at Firhill on Saturday was there for all to see. My season ticket is back out again.” CALL THE HOTLINE TODAY FROM 11 TILL 12 NOON on: 0141 309 3306 or email us: hotline@dailyrecord.co.uk