NTCHAM: WE’LL GO FOR KILLER BLOW
Ntcham knows there’s only one way Brendan’s troops will get through the siege of Leningrad:
CELTIC players have promised to attack Zenit St Petersburg rather than defend their lead – because it’s the only way they know how to play.
The Scottish champions fly out to Russia this morning with a vital 1-0 lead ahead of their second-leg Europa League match.
Last week’s victory came courtesy of the best performance of Celtic’s season so far, with the team laying siege to the Zenit goal which was eventually breached by Callum McGregor.
And Olivier Ntcham and Eboue Kouassi believe the best tactic in Russia will be to replicate their performance from the first game if the club want to progress beyond this stage in European competition for the first time since they beat Barcelona in the 2004 UEFA Cup.
“It is up to the manager how we play in the second leg, that’s always the way,” said Ntcham who is a shoo-in to start tomorrow. “But if I was the coach, I’d say
we should play the way we always play.
“We always try to score goals and that is our way. We don’t just have to try and stay in behind and defend for the whole second leg waiting until the game is finished.
“My thinking is that it is best to play our own way, like we are used to doing.”
And Kouassi, who should also begin the return match, agrees with his team-mate than in this case attack really is the best form of defence.
“Last week was a great win for us, a great night for Celtic,” said the midfielder. “It was important we got the win at home.
“Zenit are always dangerous at home, they don’t lose a lot of games there, but we know what to do, we know how we have to play.
“But I would not say it is difficult for us to go there. If we play as we can do, then we will qualify for the next round. I don’t think Zenit will be much better than they were in Glasgow. I think we will see the same team.
“Am I confident of winning? Yes, I am hopeful. We will fight, we will play our best to get through.
“The key for us to get through in Russia is to fight, as we did in the first leg. We need to keep pressing and pushing. We must attack as we did last week.
“We have to play our normal game. We won’t go there to defend, we will play like we did on Thursday, we must try to score a goal.”
Meanwhile, Celtic have been promised the new pitch at Zenit St Petersburg’s stadium is ready for tomorrow night’s Europa League clash.
The Russians took the opportunity of their winter break to rip up their old pitch at their Krestovsky Stadium and have laid a brand new hybrid surface.
This will be the first match played on the new surface and the Baltic club are confident the pitch will pass the test with flying colours.