YOU BET WE’RE READY FOR THIS
Rodgers is all too aware the odds are against his side but hopes a bold approach can reap rich rewards
BRENDAN Rodgers has never been one of life’s gamblers. On the pitch, perhaps. Off it, his ignorance of Celtic’s odds in Barcelona tonight is total.
For the record, beating the finest team in world football is a 33/1 shot. It’s hardly Leicester City odds. But neither would anyone regard those kind of numbers as an incitement to part with a spare tenner.
‘I’m not a gambling man,’ said Rodgers. ‘So I wouldn’t really know about odds — you’d be better asking my brother about that.’
There’s no need to have an intimate relationship with William Hill to know Celtic are second favourites here.
Class and money talk at this level. A Barcelona squad assembled for £350million trumps a Celtic team put together for £23m hands down.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar are known as ‘MSN’. Their fame is such no full names are required.
Like de Stefano and Puskas, the three are world renowned. Matadors who taunt and tease football’s raging bulls to the point of collapse.
‘I don’t think anyone gives us a cat in hell’s chance of doing anything. I respect and understand that totally,’ said Rodgers.
‘If you look at the power of the three other teams in our group and the experience and the finances, we shouldn’t be on the same pitch as them, that’s the honesty of it. But that’s not how football works.
‘Celtic is a huge club. We don’t have the resources of others in this competition and at this level but it shouldn’t stop us believing that we can get a result.
‘I think in this stadium here, if you can keep the score at 0-0 for 15, 20 minutes, there is an anxiety that can appear because of the level of what they are used to seeing and the level of goalscoring.
‘So, if you can get over that first phase of the game, you can have a big chance. But, of course, it’s easier said than done. They test you physically and move you around the pitch but we are here to try to get a result, that’s the message.’
Football tourism is a growing trade and it’s not just supporters who are at it.
Before qualifying games, it’s common to see footballers out on the pitch, taking pictures, milking their moment in the big time.
After three years behind the rope, Celtic have forced their way back with the VIPs and it’s natural to gawp, point and feel lucky to be here.
Yet Rodgers is clear. Barcelona are human beings. Alaves overcame an expensively assembled squad on Saturday night and the Champions League sets high standards. Teams are expected to rise to the occasion.
‘You are here, it’s great and take it in, but we have earned the right to be in the Champions League,’ added Rodgers. ‘We’re not tourists, we are here to do well.
‘Every game at this level is an experience and especially where we are coming from as a club in the last few years.
‘If anyone had said four months ago that we would be playing in the Champions League, we would have bitten their hand off. So for us, and the young and senior players, this is a great experience and you always want it to be a positive experience, so that’s my approach to it.’
A relentlessly positive manager, Rodgers (pictured) will brief his players on what to expect. Preparation time has been limited by the draining impact of Saturday’s derby. Game, rest, travel, play is less than ideal for a fixture like this, but it is what it is.
After putting five past Rangers, no one can rule out the shoe going on the other foot in Catalonia.
Celtic lost 6-1 here three years ago and it’s in attack — rather than defence — where Barcelona’s strengths lie.
Yet Rodgers will spend time before the game preaching the need for positive thinking.
‘That’s massive,’ he said. ‘I think that was the biggest thing; coming in, trying to give that belief to the players. Since day one, that’s what it’s been about really, that winning mentality and what that means and how it looks.
‘They obviously had a winning mentality because they won the league. But like I said from day one, it’s not just about winning and doing the least amount you can to win, it’s about winning and being the very best. ‘It’s just giving the players the confidence to let them know that they (Barca) are human beings. ‘I have worked very, very closely with one of the players who is deemed the best — and is. I know what players at that level think and, hopefully, I can help my players in terms of how the players at that level operate and work. ‘There will always be apprehension. There is always going to be that little feel around a game here. ‘If you are Kieran Tierney, for example. He’s 19 years of age, it’s only natural. ‘Coming from Motherwell, then into the Nou Camp, you can’t believe it. After the biggest result of his life? ‘Now he’s up against Messi. We’re human beings. I’m not a brain surgeon.’
Celtic have scored 25 goals in their last seven games. Yet past experience says this: knocking down skittles in the Scottish Premiership is not always the best preparation for better opposition in Europe.
Nevertheless, Barcelona is almost a free hit. No one expects Celtic to win and the stock of Rodgers is sky high.
Whatever happens, the Northern Irishman believes his team will benefit from the experience.
‘Win, lose or draw here, when we get back, we’re a better team,’ he insisted. ‘That’s the beauty of this.
‘That’s why you do your work to qualify to get in here.
‘The more exposure you can have to these sort of games, the better player you become. The better it is for your club team and your country.
‘The more games you have at it and the more good players you face, it makes you better.
‘It drip feeds confidence into your game, you learn things that you can put into your game. Then you can put it in to become better. That’s what this level does.
‘Listen, it’s not a free game for me. We want to get a result. We are not here just to be passengers.
‘If you want that easy-oasy life, this is not the place to be. Make no mistake, we will do everything we can against a real crack team to try to get a result.’