MONSTER’S
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LATEST 21 6$/( 12:
THE wee kid in the John Lewis Christmas advert only needed a night light to get rid of the scary beast below his bed.
But Nir Bitton knows Celtic will need to be more than just switched on to deal with their own monster this week.
Unlike big Moz in the festive flogging campaign, PSG are going to be far from fun and cuddly.
The French giants are just about the most frightening prospect on the planet right now with a £400million frontline terrifying the wits out of rivals all over the continent.
Celtic have already suffered a sleepless night after the 5-0 thrashing at Parkhead but Bitton doesn’t look too restless ahead of the return clash in Paris on Wednesday.
The midfielder looks set to stand in at centre-back yet again but reckons the Hoops will need to stand up and stare down the beast of the Bastille. And then hope for the best.
“We need to face it,” Bitton roared. Well, okay, he didn’t quite roar it but the 26-year-old did try to sound as convincing as he could.
The big fellow isn’t daft. He knows what Celtic are up against. PSG were fearsome in Glasgow and they haven’t lost their teeth since.
Maybe it’s best if sensitive Parkhead punters look away now. Neymar and Co have blasted 17 goals in four games in the Champions League so far – five against Celts and Anderlecht, another four against the Belgians and three against those German minnows Bayern Munich. They’re yet to concede. In fact, they’ve rattled 17 in their last four games in all competitions and only fished the ball out of the back of their own net once.
It simply doesn’t get any harder than this for Celtic but Bitton believes they can do themselves proud in Paris.
He said: “PSG beat us 5-0 at home but we can get a better result and I hope we can do it on Wednesday.
“The pride is still there and we will go there on Wednesday night and do our best. In every game you go out on the pitch and try to get the best result you can.
“PSG are better than Celtic and they showed that in the first game. But we need to go to Paris and you never know – maybe we’ll be in the Europa League on Wednesday.”
Bitton is well aware of what it will take. You can’t give this lot an inch or they will take the length of the Champs Elysees.
Bitton said: “To be honest, when you play games against that kind of team you make one mistake and you pay for it.
“When you play against Neymar, Mbappe, Cavani – it doesn’t matter who plays there – you need to make no mistakes and compete.
“If we do that hopefully Wednesday