Cristian aims for Trondheim return never to forget
Celtic’s Champions League return against Rosenborg on Wednesday night will rekindle some fond memories for Cristian Gamboa.
The Costa Rican, who impressed in the Hoops’ 3-1 first leg win last week, moved up to Scotland from West Brom. But before that he was in Trondheim.
“I had three years with Rosenborg, so I know a lot of people there and have many friends,” he said.
“It will be really nice to play in the stadium again.
“They have kept six or seven of the players from my time there. They have a very solid base which has been in place for more than three years.
“They keep the same 4-3-3 formation and they will never change.
“This is Rosenborg – they are what they are!
“I think in the second leg they will try to get an early goal, but that is tricky against us because we have good players up front.
“They will need to be aware of that but I think it will be an open game.
“We need to be careful with what they do but I always think we will score, so it’s going to be a good game.”
Gamboa heads into the new season off the back of a decent World Cup campaign in which he started for his country in all three of their matches, including the clash against Brazil, Neymar et al.
However, as he recalled, his last European trip at club level was an unhappy one, with the 28-year-old taking flak for his display in Celtic’s 3-0 Champions League loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
“That’s OK, you need to take it,” he said, wincing slightly at the memory of a tough night trying to shackle the notin considerable talents of Arjen Robben and Kingsley Coman.
“You are a professional and they pay you for that.
“After a bad game they always come to pick out somebody and it tends to be the defenders. That’s OK.
“If you make a mistake, or have a bad game, you need to move on.
“That’s all in the past. You need to try to get better and perform in the next game you are given.
“I was always thinking about trying to be ready for the World Cup, keeping my mind clear.
“You need to trust what you are doing, to keep things professional and be clear in your mind.
‘ You have to be ready when you are asked to play. It’s a big club so sometimes you don’t get the chances, but if you keep at it in training the chance will come.
“But I was always positive. I see a lot of better things for me in the future so we will see what happens.”