Captain keen to make up for Catalan capitulation against Pep’s slick City
THE phrase Battle of Britain seems outdated and inappropriate. After the trauma of Barcelona on the opening match day, Celtic’s Champions League tour of duty now sees them come into close contact with a bunch of cosmopolitan Catalan clones from down the road armed with a fearsome pre-match Pep talk.
It promises to be an ideological struggle as much as a blood-andthunder battle between the best teams Scotland and England currently have to offer.
But a strange kind of alchemy comes into play on these big Champions League nights at Celtic Park and who is to say that Manchester City will be any more immune to it than the likes of AC Milan, Barcelona or even city rivals Manchester United, who have all fallen here?
City, once derided by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and co as the “noisy neighbours”, have looked imperious in the 10 matches in all competitions they have strolled through with victory since the arrival of Pep Guardiola this summer.
It was Tito Villanova, and not Guardiola, who was manager of Barcelona that fateful night in 2012 when Tony Watt wrote his way into the history books, even if it was largely Guardiola’s team. But tonight the renowned Catalan schemer will find out if his team can also subdue one of the most robust home records in football. In 24 group stage matches, the Parkhead side have won 16 and lost just three. And as daunting as their task appears, it is nonetheless true that, outside their home and away meetings with Borussia Moenchengladbach, most regard this as the Scottish champions’ best chance of getting something.
While keeping a decent share of possession against the fast, instant pressing of such as Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and David Silva will be vital, captain Scott Brown knows it all starts with finding a way to get close to your opposite number and dominating individual battles.
Brown, who let the dressing room know in no uncertain terms afterwards that the 7-0 defeat in Camp Nou was unacceptable, feels Celtic are also playing to restore pride.
“We are playing for Scottish football and the reputation of Celtic Park as well,” said Brown. “We have played some great teams here but we have done well, we have dug deep on got some good results. It has been hard, we have lost late goals, but we have always believed in ourselves – especially at home.
“We know that we let ourselves down in Barcelona but we need to bounce back from that. It is about what we do against Manchester City now and on our day we believe we can play as well as anybody.”
He may see City’s stars on Match of the Day from time to time but Brown, blessed with the kind of ability and application which could have seen him succeed in the Barclays Premier League, says it is not his “cup of tea” to travel south of the Border to watch them more closely. The chance to test his abilities against them in person is a different matter, though, even if he is not exactly unhappy that Kevin De Bruyne is absent with a hamstring injury.
“I’m quite glad De Bruyne’s out,” said Brown. “He’s decent. He’s a top player, I played against him for Scotland and he’s the one who starts the pressing for City. He’s got the legs in the team to press, find the pass and also finish. But then City have got so many great players – they’ve got Sterling, Aguero . . . in fact just about everybody! However, we’ve also got a good team and a great bunch of lads in that dressing room.
“This is what Champions League football is all about,” he added. “It’s about playing the best players in your position and hopefully you end up top individually and as a team after 90 minutes.
“If you want to improve as a player then that’s what you need to do, look to compete against top players like that, be brave enough to take the ball under pressure and hopefully beat a man and create a chance.”
These may be small mercies, but Rodgers admits that City’s front three is not quite on a par with the holy trinity of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez which ripped his team to shreds in the opening matchday.
While he has never met Guardiola, his old pals’ act this time around is with Sterling, who is only now turning into the player he threatened to become whilst working under Rodgers at Liverpool.
The Celtic manager is delighted with his return to form, having sent him a text of encouragement after England’s exit from Euro 2016. This is rather magnanimous, considering how Sterling left his Liverpool side for a big money deal in Manchester.
“The front three at Barcelona have been together a while and understand the movement patterns,” said Rodgers. “Man City are in the process of working towards that. Where they have been devastating is on the counter-attack. The speed they can break is phenomenal.
“Raheem moved on but we created some brilliant memories together. He’s a young father now with a beautiful daughter, Melody. He’s a great kid.
“You have to go into every game with the notion you can get points,” he added. “We might go two games without picking up any. But we will do our very best. That’s all we can do.”