Anderlecht haven’t given up. They are a big club and this game is a shootout
FOR Dedryck Boyata, the turnaround in his fortunes over the past 12 months represents his very own Christmas miracle. Out in the cold under Brendan Rodgers, the dawn of January 2017 brought with it only the likely prospect of a move away from Celtic to revive the Belgian defender’s flagging career.
But in a desperate bid to turn his situation around, Boyata famously embarked upon late-evening gym sessions at Lennoxtown, clocking in at 11pm and not finishing until after 1am.
Such dedication saw him handed just a second start under Rodgers in the 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Albion Rovers on January 22.
And while many people were predicting his Parkhead career would soon be in the past, the Celtic boss surprised many at full-time by looking to a future with Boyata.
‘I thought Dedryck looked very promising,’ said Rodgers.
‘He can still be a player for me. He looked like the young player I first saw at Manchester City. I saw him play against Didier Drogba when he was a young player and he was fantastic. He was strong, quick and aggressive. He has all the attributes I love. This might by Boyata’s moment.’
And so it proved. The 27-year-old is now a mainstay for Rodgers, whose Celtic side are unbeaten in their last 67 domestic matches and have claimed the last four major trophies in Scotland.
The defender is now hoping to top last season’s undefeated treble-winning season by securing European football for Parkhead in the New Year.
Boyata is also back in contention with Belgium, who on Friday were drawn in World Cup Group G with England, Panama and Tunisia.
The forgotten man is now very much a footballer in demand, his phone ringing off the hook with journalists from his homeland seeking his views on tomorrow night’s crunch Champions League tie at home to Anderlecht.
It is little wonder, then, that 12 months on from the lows of 2016, Boyata is determined his festive fairytale is not spoiled by the Belgian champions.
To claim the Europa League place at the expense of their hosts, Anderlecht must pull off a real shock by winning by a three-goal margin, as Celtic did in Brussels back in September.
‘The media in Belgium have followed me ever since I left to join Manchester City, but that’s especially more so the case now we are playing against Anderlecht and I am involved with the national team,’ he smiled.
‘At the moment, the coverage of me would seem to be positive!
‘Journalists in Belgium have been contacting me to have a word about this game because it’s a shootout for both clubs.
‘It’s an important game for both clubs and Anderlecht definitely haven’t given up on it. They have said that, if we can win 3-0 over there, then they can do the same here in Glasgow.
‘Anderlecht are the equivalent to Celtic back home, but they had a very bad start to the season and, because they began so poorly, they have found themselves under pressure.
‘They are third in the league and it’s always hard to play when you are under pressure and the expectations from their fans are really high.
‘But Anderlecht, like Celtic, are a big club and they should be used to the pressure and criticism. I’m sure they will have found their feet by the time we play them on Tuesday.
‘They have been doing better under their new manager and it will be a difficult game for us, but I refuse to think about us losing to them. That would ruin Christmas — in fact, it would ruin everything!’
For all Boyata welcomes the upsurge in interest in him from the traditional Belgian press, though, he does not regret turning his back on social media.
A conduit for anonymous malcontents to dish out personal abuse directly to their target, the Celtic defender does not miss that kind of interaction.
‘Back when I used social media, I saw a lot of stuff and I just decided that wasn’t my kind of world,’ he admitted. ‘So I left it years ago. ‘It’s not so much that I didn’t react well to what I saw, but it affected me at the time because it can be personal. I didn’t want to be involved in that and I live very well without it. ‘That was a wise decision on my part. Now, whatever happens, I am not aware of it. I have my wife and I have my family and everything is fine.’ On the park, it is certainly going well for Boyata. Yet, while Celtic stand on the cusp of European football after Christmas, their last match in the Champions League saw them battered 7-1 by Paris Saint-Germain in France.
Under Rodgers, the team has shipped an average of three goals per game in Europe’s elite club competition.
Admitting to sleepless night after their PSG pounding, Boyata has faith in his manager to lay out a tactical plan to light up a route to the Europa League at Anderlecht’s expense.
‘You learn from mistakes in these sort of games against teams like PSG because you’re coming up against very good players. But you don’t sleep well after a defeat like that,’ he said.
‘It is vital now that we bounce back from that in this game.
‘I won’t say how we’re going to play against Anderlecht. But we know the manager always makes the right decisions tactically.
‘He has sent members of staff to go over and watch Anderlecht, so we’ll know what we have to do on the night.
‘And it could help us that they need to come and attack. We don’t get much of that in the Premiership, but this game could be very open because they have to score goals and they have to win.’