This is the perfect time to land a blow on Real... it will be no shock
McMANAMAN EXPECTS HOME SUPPORT TO BE CRUCIAL AGAINST SLOW STARTERS MADRID
MADE on Merseyside but immortalised in Madrid, Steve McManaman will forever be Real royalty. The Bernabéu’s first British Galactico, McManaman moved to Spain from Liverpool in 1999 and promptly pocketed a Champions League winner’s medal after thumping home a spectacular goal in a Paris final against Valencia the following summer.
Two years later, he was hoisting the trophy again, this time at Hampden Park after contortionist Zinedine Zidane volleyed home one of the game’s greatest goals against Bayer Leverkusen.
Two decades on, Madrid are heading back to Glasgow for a Champions League curtain-raiser at Celtic Park. The competition’s reigning champions, they have one of the game’s all-time great managers in Carlo Ancelotti. Up front, Karim Benzema is a runaway favourite to be crowned the world’s best player at the Ballon d’Or ceremony. And that’s before we get to the magic of Luka Modric or the firecracking talents of Vinicius Junior in attack.
Winners of the big cup an unmatched 14 times, their aura has scarcely been greater.
A pillar of BT Sport’s European coverage, McManaman is well placed to judge the task in hand.
A win for Celtic would stand as the sort of landmark result last seen when Neil Lennon’s team put Barcelona to the sword a decade ago.
Enamoured by Ange Postecoglou’s all-out attacking philosophy, McManaman refuses to temper the hopes of a dream start.
‘I wouldn’t think it would be much of a shock — I think Celtic could easily get something out of the game,’ he says. ‘Real Madrid sometimes start this type of competition slowly. They always qualify from the group, but they can start slowly.
‘Tuesday is the perfect opportunity — first game of the Champions League, the noise of Celtic Park.’
McManaman has some experience of this. Prior to making his somewhat controversial move from his boyhood club — he ran down his contract before switching on a Bosman — the winger was the star turn on the night Liverpool visited Parkhead for a UEFA Cup clash in 1997.
The tie is best remembered for McManaman’s mazy solo run that started deep in his own and ended up with a fine 90th-minute finish past Jonathan Gould to secure a 2-2 draw that would ultimately take Liverpool through on away goals.
Beyond that wonderful goal, McManaman recalls something entirely different, a mood he has rarely experienced in a playing career that saw him grace the world stage with England and later play for Manchester City.
‘Celtic Park is a unique, daunting atmosphere,’ he says. ‘I remember us starting really well that night and I thought we were going to win quite comfortably.
‘Then the noise and the atmosphere when Celtic got their first goal completely turned things round.
‘It affected us. We looked as if we weren’t going to get anything from the game. And that’s what can happen on European nights — the crowd is so important.
‘That’s how you explain why Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona by four and then lost six away from home. Or how Barcelona beat Liverpool 3-0 and then lost by four.
‘It’s the same people on the pitch, the one overriding factor is the crowd. The noisier and more vociferous that crowd is on Tuesday, the better it will be for Celtic.
‘Because if there is one thing that is going to panic Real — and I use that word loosely — it’s a noisy atmosphere.
‘The supporters certainly can’t go to along to the stadium thinking: “Oh, isn’t it amazing to see Modric and Benzema”. They have to make it as hard as feasibly possible for the European champions.
‘Real are incredibly experienced and noise and atmospheres don’t necessarily faze them. But, first game away from home, there’s the potential to catch them out.’
It’s not just the crowd that McManaman admires about the Scottish champions. Like many, he was caught unawares by the club’s appointment of Postecoglou a year ago but has marvelled at the pace, scale and success of the rebuild affected by the Australian.
‘The turnaround with Ange over the last year has been phenomenal,’ he adds. ‘When he was first announced a lot of eyebrows were raised. But he came in and did a job straight away winning the league back.
Ange wants his team to attack and I like that. Real always concede goals
‘They had lost the likes of Scott Brown, who had been there for a long time but he added some real flair, players from round the world and he seems to have got the blend right.
‘Your eyes are drawn to the goalscorers like Kyogo (Furuhashi) of course, the fact they scored nine goals last weekend. He wants his team to attack and I like that.
‘Real always concede goals. We saw it last year against better opposition but they like to run forward, which can leave them open.
‘Losing Casemiro to Manchester United means they don’t have that experienced holding midfield player now either.
‘Yes, they’ve got Luka Modric and Toni Kroos but whether they play (Aurelien) Tchouameni or (Eduardo) Camavinga, they don’t have that experience of sitting and holding on a European night.
‘If Celtic have legs in midfield to run forward, they can go and score goals.
Teams like Manchester
City, Liverpool and Real do leave chances at the back. That’s just the new style of football.
‘I would rather watch Celtic play like that than sit back, defend and try to counter-attack. That’s just my preference and it’s why I’m more than happy to watch Ange’s team. ‘I’ve no problem with them being on the front foot. Of course you have to defend, you can’t have both full-backs bombing on at the same time. But you can play with a certain amount of flair, particularly at home in the first game when you are trying to catch a team off guard.
‘I think it will be a close game and I would be quietly confident about Celtic qualifying alongside Real Madrid. ‘Shakhtar have had their problems registering Ukrainian players, they are playing out of Warsaw, so that also presents an opportunity for Celtic. ‘Leipzig have sold
The noise and the atmosphere when Celtic got their first goal completely turned things round. Yes, it affected us.
That’s what can happen
some of their players, so there is an opportunity there too. I study European football quite closely, all the ins and outs, and when the draw was made my initial thought was that all the British teams had a brilliant chance of going through.’
Which brings us to Liverpool and Rangers. McManaman’s ties to Anfield remain strong and the 50-year-old (left) hopes to be involved in BT’s coverage of the double-header that could define the make-up of Group A next month.
Impressed by the way in which Giovanni van Bronckhorst seamlessly took on the team built by Steven Gerrard and led Rangers to the fresh heights of the Europa League final, he sees no reason for the Ibrox side to fear what lies ahead of them.
And he disputes the suggestion that UEFA’S second tier represents the level.
He adds: ‘My initial thought is why shouldn’t they go into the Champions League and have a go?
‘Rangers start with Ajax, who have sold (Ryan) Gravenberch and (Noussair) Mazraoui to Bayern Munich, while Antony and Lisandro
Martinez have gone to Manchester United.
‘Of course Ajax are going to be competitive and they’ll bring players through from the academy but PSV Eindhoven are the dominant team in the Netherlands at the moment.
‘They’ve scored 22 goals in four games but Rangers have just knocked them out to qualify, so why can’t they go and be competitive?
‘Napoli have sold a few of their best players too — Dries Mertens has gone, so has Kalidou Koulibaly. Why not have a go at them too?
‘Gio’s got them to the Europa League final, so even on form this is not straightforward. It’s not right to say it’s done and dusted just because you are up against famous names.
‘I’m looking forward to the two Liverpool games. Jurgen Klopp has a few players coming back like Thiago, Jota and (Joel) Matip but we’ll see what happens when those the games come round. The atmospheres should be terrific.’
Celtic v Real Madrid will be shown live exclusively on BT Sport 3 and BT Sport Ultimate on Tuesday. Coverage starts from 7.15pm