BELIEF WILL GET US OUT OF GROUP
LEIPZIG v ROSENBORG
DAYDREAM believer Filip Benkovic admits Celtic’s Europa League fortunes will tonight meet a fork in the road.
But the Hoops defender isn’t contemplating anything other than achieving the point they need against Red Bull Salzburg to progress into the knockout stage.
Benkovic said: “If you want to do something really good you must do some chasing and believing – dream of big stuff.
“You have to be realistic. In the Europa League there are so many big teams. The likes of Napoli have just come into it so the competition is very hard. So you always have to go step by step.
“This season we have done very well, especially in the past few months. If we keep going like that, I believe we can do nice things. First we need to focus to Thursday as it will be a very hard game.”
Anything other than a loss to the Austrians will see Celtic emerge from Group B. But Benkovic is adamant it would be flirting with danger to take anything other than treating this game as one they must win.
He said: “In this game we only need a point but we are always going for a win in every game. It is not good to go only for a point because you relax too much.
“During the last few months we have been going better and better. Our team performance is better every game and we will try to keep going until the end of this half season in December.
“We want to keep improving.“ LEIPZIG have closed the upper tier of their stadium as supporters snub tonight’s Rosenborg showdown.
The Bundesliga outfit have shifted just 16,000 tickets for the visit of the Norwegian champions, with 400 of those briefs snapped up by the away supporters.
Although club chiefs are hopeful of a late surge, Leipzig could play in front of their lowest attendance of the campaign – which currently stands at 16,648 for their Europa League qualifier against Universitatea Craiova.
Leipzig could still qualify for the last 32 this evening if they defeat Rosenborg and Celtic lose at home to Salzburg.
The Red Bull Arena has a capacity of 44,345 but looks set to be less than half full tonight. KEVIN TWADDLE knew it was only a matter of time before his pal Leigh Griffiths hit rock bottom. He’s seen the signs, heard the rumours and counselled the Celtic star on his ‘ongoing issues’ that include a gambling problem. The former Motherwell and Hearts player grew close with the Celtic idol when Griffiths was starring for Hibs and Twaddle was touring Scottish clubs talking about gambling. Twaddle’s searingly honest biography, Life On The Line, is the story of how he lost more than £1million through gambling addiction, making him the perfect person to talk to footballers about the perils of the bookmakers. He still speaks regularly to Griffiths and isn’t surprised the player has taken time out to tackle his demons. In fact, he sees this as the first steps towards recovery. Twaddle said: “I know everything that’s been going on with Leigh regarding his gambling. “But what do you tell him? I’ve been in that position myself where people have told me I was doing the wrong things but when you are an addict you are so engrossed in gambling that it’s all that matters.
“It’s something you love doing and it’s something nobody will ever understand until they are in that position.
“It takes over your life. No matter what job you have or how much money you earn or what your situation is with family inside your house, nothing else matters.
“First and foremost you just hope Leigh’s ready to stop. I hope he’s put his hands up to what’s been going on rather than Celtic having found out about stuff but it appears they are ready to give him the help he needs.
“It doesn’t matter whether he needs the help, it’s whether he wants that help. That’s the important thing. I hope it’s Leigh who is sick and tired of being sick and tired.
“It doesn’t matter where you put someone, if you don’t want the help then it’ll never work unfortunately. He’s a kid I’ve known for a while and I’m gutted for him, it’s horrible to read and it’s horrible to see.”
The rumour factory has been in overdrive with various tales involving Griffiths and gambling but Twaddle admits it’s been an open secret that matters were coming to a head and cautioned anyone to judge the 28-year-old who is also fighting the darkness which comes with his problems.
He said: “I speak to people privately in football because they