Celtic want European prestige, says Rodgers
● Boss responds to reports Anderlecht are on £35k a man to win crucial game
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes the desire for European prestige can outweigh any financial incentives on offer tonight as his side look to kickstart their bid to progress beyond the Champions League group stage.
Anderlecht, regarded as Celtic’s main rivals in what most observers expect to be a straight fight for third place in Group B behind Paris Saintgermain and Bayern Munich and qualification for the last 32 of the Europa League beyond Christmas, are understood to be on a bonus of €40,000 (£35,000) a man to defeat the Scottish champions at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels.
While Celtic manager Rodgers does not attempt to play down the significance of tonight’s match and the return fixture against Anderlecht in Glasgow on 5 December, he questions the possible influence of the financial carrot being dangled in front of the Belgian side – who have suffered a poor start to their season.
Rodgers is confident the professional satisfaction his players would take from extending their European campaign into the second half of the season can be as powerful a motivational factor as any.
“At this level, it’s for a love of football and love of the game – for the spirit of the game and to perform,” he said.
“If you get the result, there is a consequence for that and for Anderlecht that seems quite nice! We shall see [if it motivates them]. It’s clear they’ve had a difficult start to the season. They are a club with a great history but they have changed their coach, which is unfortunate.
“At this level, the resources and finances that you get if you progress can be worth it. But I don’t think, for most footballers, it [money] is a consequence of playing well. There are not so many who go into a game and think that’s why they want to win.
“It’s absolutely about prestige as well. Over the course of the next few years, that’s really what we want. We want the name of Celtic, and the representation of Scotland 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 other benefits from that.”
As Celtic look to bounce back from the record 5-0 home defeat they suffered two weeks ago against PSG on matchday one, Rodgers is content with the attitude of his players as they try to get their first point or points on the Group B board.
“Our spirit is very strong,” he added. “We’ve created that over the last 15 months, confidence is an effect of winning games regularly. Every game we play is a pressure game because we put that pressure on ourselves, but pressure also comes with playing for a prestige club such as Celtic. “Playing at home is an advantage, but we also enjoy playing away because we are given a wee bit more space. We can control the ball, be good in possession and we also have pace on the counter attack to trouble the opposition.”
A win is a win, not something you hear much at the Etihad these days. City were not at their most compelling, indeed were often inferior to the Ukraine champions in movement and rhythm, but a 90th-minute goal from Raheem Sterling and a beauty from Kevin de Bruyne sealed their best start to a Champions League campaign.
Sergio Aguero from the spot, Sterling and Leroy Sane might all have added to the score as City at last began to swarm over their opponents late in the game, but that would have distorted the picture.
So frustrated had Pep Guardiola become, that he borrowed from the book of Louis van Gaal’s eccentric moments, throwing himself to the floor in his technical area after another move broke down.
Should City be the team holding aloft the Champions League trophy in Kiev, this off-key night will be long forgotten. Guardiola celebrated with a clenched fist at the end before congratulating his opposite number Paulo Fonseca for putting up an excellent fight.
A prosaic opening gave way to a furious eruption by Donetsk, who do a very good line in imported Brazilian footballers. Fred, Bernard, Marlos and Taison began to swagger with some clever, incisive passing, the more impressive for the passive ten minutes that preceded it.
Guardiola warned that City would have to be on their toes against a team who had already dispatched Napoli in the first round of Group F fixtures. Fernandinho was just that to keep City level with a brilliantly-timed tackle as Fred bore down on Ederson.
City were clearly stung and Donetsk empowered, taking the game to their vaunted opponents, showing neither fear nor respect.
Denied any cohesion, City fell back on individual thrusts from the likes of Sane and Aguero. It was hard watching for Guardiola, who was becoming increasingly animated as the ball went back and across. De Bruyne was urgently instructed to switch positions with David Silva, neither of whom had been in the game in the opening half hour, in an attempt to inject urgency into the play.
It almost worked immediately, if by default, when a mistake by Donetsk saw the ball arrive at De Bruyne’s feet and in space. The Belgian needed no invitation to hare towards goal, but, travelling at pace, was unable to control the shot and pulled it wide.
Within seconds, Ederson was diving at full stretch to deny Marlos after another scintillating break by Bernard, who dispossessed Walker on the edge of his box and raced the length of the field to fashion the chance.
Guardiola was waiting for just such a challenge, telling anyone prepared to listen that the avalanche of goals that had seen City net 22 times in the preceding five matches was not guaranteed. Indeed, the first goal of the night seemed more likely to come from Donetsk, who spurned another excellent opportunity five minutes before the break, the unchallenged Ivan Ordets heading a free-kick wide inside the six-yard box.
Eight minutes into the second half Jesus was making way for Sterling, which tells you how dissatisfied Guardiola was, not necessarily with the player, who he hugged, but the group. That City had just taken the lead barely mattered. The goal by De Bruyne came from nothing, gifted via a mistake by Marlos. It was some finish but it did not arrive by design. Guardiola, ever the perfectionist, sent on Sterling with the directive to stretch the pitch wide on the right and give City a better shape.
This he did to some effect, and should have added a second when racing on to an exquisite De Bruyne cross, somehow squirting the ball wide of a post. Aguero was the next to sin, missing from the spot after Sane was sent tumbling in the box.