TALKING CELTIC
IN BRUSSELS F YOU forgive the hyperbole, which can be tricky when talking football, this evening is the first leg of what for Celtic is a two-match Champions League final.
Should Brendan Rodgers’ players manage to win here against Anderlecht in Brussels, most would have them as the serious favourites to get through to the Europa League knock-out matches as the thirdplace team behind Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain, although it was interesting to hear the Celtic manager adamantly refusing to believe a point could not be taken from such European royalty over the course.
However, that is for later. All that matters here and now is that Celtic avoid defeat. Rodgers would take a draw, albeit victory would show how far this side have come in 15 months.
Martin O’Neill never won a Champions League game away from Celtic Park. Neither did Gordon Strachan. The only man to do so since t he European Cup, as many of us still call it, was transformed in 1992 is Neil Lennon.
That last and solitary win came at Spartak Moscow in 2012.
Celtic drew away against Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City last season, two games they could have won it must be said, and the question now is does this Rodgers’ team have it in them to do what so many previous eras filled with great players failed?
“You can take it two ways,” said the Northern Irishman. “You can either embrace it and look forward to the challenge of it – or not. For us, the mentality we try to create is to look to be defensively strong and play the game we play at home when we are away from home.
“Of course, you know you are going to have to show moments of resilience to cope with other pressures away from home, especially at this level. But in the main, we look forward to trying to play our game. That’s all we try to do in this competition.”
IANDERLECHT are no world beaters but they would not need to be to beat Celtic, and that is with every due respect to this group of Invincibles who have now gone 57 domestic games unbeaten.
PSG and Bayern are in a different universe; the Belgians are not. They may have suffered their worst start to the domestic season since 1998 but who in their right mind would rule out the best team in Belgium beating the best from Scotland?
“In a football sense, there are some fantastic players in Belgium,” said Rodgers. “You only need to look at the era they are in now.
“With a population of around 10million, the players they produce are very, very good.
“If you look at the other champions we have played – Astana were a good side, Rosenborg beat Ajax who were the Europa League finalists last season.
“Anderlecht reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, so they are still a very tough opponent.
“They are no mugs, they are a good side with a good history. They haven’t started the season as they would have wanted but the Champions League is a great motivating factor for them to kick on.”
So, is it the case that these two games with Anderlecht are Celtic’s only chance of third place? It would appear so from the outside but Rodgers, as you would expect, is not ruling out a win in Paris or taking something from either match against Bayern.
“Listen, you go into those games believing you can get a result,” said the Celtic manager. “But it’s logical, really, that if PSG bring their A-game and we bring our A-game, then PSG win.
“That’s simple and that’s not killing a dream or bursting any sort of bubble. I’m a realist, you know.
“But we will always look to plan to win. And hopefully over the coming seasons we can do that.
“We want the name of Celtic and the representation of Scot- land to go as far as we possibly can. We know how difficult it is but that shouldn’t stop us looking to fight for that.
“So that’s something we want to be able to do. If we can carry the team and carry the club into those latter stages then, of course, there are many benefits from that.”
RODGERS returned to the theme of Celtic going at Anderlecht tonight rather than sitting back, keeping things tight and hoping something happens in front of their