PLAY OUR WAY
Rodgers keen to see real Celtic in Munich
BRENDAN RODGERS has urged his players to stand up and show the real Celtic when they face the superstars of Bayern Munich this evening.
The Parkhead manager is eager to see his side learn the lessons of their 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the first Group B match, when he claimed they ‘played like Under-12s’ in an over-cautious first half.
Celtic also suffered a bruising 7-0 reverse away to Barcelona in last season’s Champions League, so the need for a more imposing approach against another elite opponent has been high in Rodgers’ pre-match thoughts.
He will, however, have to perform another defensive rejig in the Allianz Arena after Jozo Simunovic failed to travel to Germany. The Bosnian centre-back suffered a reaction
in his bid to recover from a hamstring injury. ‘We have a duty to play our game,’ insisted Rodgers. ‘That is what we have already spoken of. ‘If you are going to lose football games, especially at this level where you are up against it in terms of the opponents, then as long as you play how we play. ‘Our disappointment against Barcelona and PSG at home was that we didn’t quite impose our way of working. So our message is we have a duty to play how we play and that is to attack and be aggressive. ‘The players have shown over the course of 16 months the improvements they are making. ‘It takes a little bit more time at this level because of the level of opponent, but you can still go out and impose your game. We have done that in European games and this is a great opportunity for us again to show that we have that nerve to play. That would be the idea going into it.’ Celtic almost seemed cowed by the wealth of high-profile talent PSG brought to Parkhead last month. And Rodgers believes it is vital to avoid any inferiority complex when lining up alongside the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller in the tunnel this evening. ‘It can intimidate,’ he admitted. ‘But what we are facing here is a team that plays 4-2-3-1. ‘The winger comes inside, the full-back goes outside, the striker peels off the shoulder. ‘If you can get up to people, which is always the challenge when you are pressing at this level with the technical ability of players, you can do something. ‘But, collectively, you have to be together. I am looking forward to the game. We will see how we can go and perform and let’s see if we can take something from it.’