I have faced Messi and Ronaldo... but PSG trio could be best ever
AT the age of 34, Craig Gordon has stared into the whites of some of football’s deadliest eyes. Men capable of striking a target with clinical precision.
‘I have faced Ronaldo and Messi,’ recalled the Celtic goalkeeper.
Yet Gordon looks at the Paris Saint-Germain trio of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe and sees £400million worth of collective menace which, in time, could surpass anything football has seen.
‘I’ve been lucky enough to face most of the best strikers in the world and this three are definitely right up there and will only get better,’ added Gordon.
‘They are all fairly young to keep going for a while and the understanding between them is only going to get better.
‘It’s a big challenge, we know that. Can they surpass the Neymar, Messi, (Luis) Suarez trio? Who knows?
‘As long as they get on with each other for long enough ....
‘Their talent is certainly capable of taking them that far and looking as good as those Barcelona three and possibly surpassing it.
‘They are all great players but it’s how they play together that makes the difference.’
Celtic have already had a harrowing lesson in how potent the PSG trio can be.
A 5-0 defeat to the gifted French side in September was a painful, sobering business. The heaviest home defeat in 55 years of competing in Europe.
Neymar, Cavani and Mbappe provided a demonstration of what the largesse of Qatar Sports Investment’s backing purchases a team, supported by the peerless midfield play of Adrien Rabiot. A home supporter took to the field to aim a kick at the former Monaco attacker and missed.
It was a night when Celtic couldn’t get close.
‘We have to take defeat and it can be hard at times but that one, on that first night was a tough one for us,’ admitted Brendan Rodgers, whose side can secure a Europa League slot tonight if they better Anderlecht’s result against Bayern Munich. ‘That was football at the very highest level.
‘The number of people who have told me that was the best away performance they have seen at Celtic Park...
‘There have been some great teams but they took the ball on the edge of their own six yard box, being pressed. I recognise that, at that point in time, PSG had just brought in £400m worth of players. They were excited themselves, it was their first Champions League game together and we probably bore the brunt of their quality and ambition.
‘But I’ll always demand more and I think the players recognised it themselves afterwards.’
Aspiring to match a team of PSG’s quality is one thing. Doing so is quite another.
Unai Emery’s multi-talented side have scored 17 goals in four games without reply. Victory tonight would seal top spot in Group B, but the French league leaders want more than that.
They want to become the first team to finish a Champions League group campaign without losing a goal.
‘I’m not naive enough not to know the level we are playing against here,’ added Rodgers.
‘We are up against the best of the best. It’s not just a one-tier jump up. This is really operating against the world’s best. That can be difficult.
‘People say it’s similar for Celtic playing in Scotland but it’s totally different to teams in the Premiership playing against us.
‘You are up against the elite on the planet here. But my intention is always: “Okay, I respect that — but let’s make them fight”.
‘You can still come out of a game having lost, as we did against Bayern last time, and have pride. You can have people saying you’re a good side and you’re tough to play against.
‘So that’s the aim. Even though PSG have a group of players who are steam-rollering everyone, can we go and put on a performance which gives us pride in it?’
Together with Scott Brown, Gordon is a rarity in this Celtic side. A player who knows how it feels to win in the Parc des Princes.
A Scotland win over France in 2007, courtesy of a stunning James McFadden goal, remains an iconic night for the national game.
Yet Gordon is honest enough to admit that PSG pose a greater threat than the French national team did that night.
‘We’re not taking on one nation,’ admitted the Celtic keeper, ‘but the best of a lot of nations.
‘Looking back to the first game in Glasgow, they were right up for it.
‘We caught them on a good night and we have to hold our hands up and say they were too good.
‘In terms of how they attacked and passed the ball, it’s as good as I have ever faced.
‘With the quality they have, they tend to take chances when they get them. We just came up against a very good team in the Celtic Park game.
‘The team PSG have assembled are some of the superstars from across world football.
‘It’s going to be a difficult task. They’re one of the best club sides in Europe at the moment.
‘This team is very slick and you can see they’ve worked together throughout this season to produce some unbelievable performances.’
Rarely, if ever, have a Celtic team entered a European game as 30/1 outsiders with bookmakers.
The reasons for that should be clear to all, yet Gordon insists he and his team-mates will not be burdened by the size of the task.
‘I’ll have no problem sleeping the night before the game,’ added the Celtic stopper.
‘It’s a challenge and it’s one to look forward to, not to fear.’