AWAY DAY JOY IS CRUCIAL TO EURO SUCCESS
Lambert lays out way ahead for Celts
WITH courageous commitment to attacking football, Celtic gave Real Madrid a fright in the first half of last week’s Champions League clash at Parkhead before succumbing to a 3-0 defeat.
Ange Postecoglou will hope the same all-action approach ensures his team come out on the winning end when their other group rivals Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig visit Glasgow.
But Paul Lambert, who won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and reached the UEFA Cup final with Celtic six years later, insists the key to going further in Europe will be taking points on the road.
In season 2001-02, Lambert played in a Hoops team that secured home wins over Porto, Rosenborg and Juventus but failed to reach the knockouts after three successive losses on their travels.
After the current side’s defeat by Madrid, the pressure is mounting to pick up points against Shakhtar in neutral Poland on Wednesday before facing RB Leipzig in Germany on October 5.
Should they do so, it would set them up nicely for home matches against Leipzig on October 11 and Shakhtar on October 25 prior to rounding off their group games at the Bernabeu on November 2.
‘You have to get something away from home. That is the key,’ said Lambert. ‘When Dortmund won the Champions League, we only lost to Atletico Madrid at home that season and beat them in Madrid.
‘We beat Steaua Bucharest and drew with Widzew Lodz away. You have to do that at this level. When Celtic got to the UEFA Cup final in 2003, we played well away from home against Celta Vigo, Liverpool, Blackburn and Boavista.
‘So that’s the main thing Celtic need to do. If they go to Poland and lose to Shakhtar, that’s six points they’re down already. If they can get something and take care of their home games, they have a chance.’
Lambert (below) believes Celtic’s overall performance against the European champions should imbue them with hope.
‘Celtic can give anyone a game at home because of the support they’ve got, but they were up against a totally different animal in Real Madrid,’ he said.
‘Carlo Ancelotti is the greatest and most successful manager in the Champions League. He’s been over the course both as manager and player — and big players and big teams will thrive on the atmosphere at Parkhead. They think: “Okay, you can come at us for a while and then we’ll start to flex our muscles”.
‘But Celtic can certainly compete, because that support will drive them on. Celtic Park is a really difficult place to get a result.’
Lambert was not surprised, though, to hear Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst say it requires hundreds of millions of pounds to compete at the top level after his side’s 4-0 thrashing at Ajax.
‘I understand where he’s coming from because Ajax sold guys for £180million in the summer — and how do you compete with that?,’ he said. ‘But you’ve got to try and make an impact somehow.
‘Probably the big thing is the way Rangers got beaten. Celtic got beaten by three goals but put up a fight and were unlucky not to take the lead. I guess there’s a way (to lose).’
Lambert sees similarities between Postecoglou and his former Parkhead manager Wim Jansen, who died earlier this year aged 75.
‘Wim lost his first few games at Celtic and people were saying he had to go,’ said Lambert. ‘Henrik Larsson got stick after giving the ball away a few times, but he turned out not bad either. That title was the hardest to win from my time at Celtic.
‘Ange must have a wry smile when you consider some of the stick he got when he first came in. People without much knowledge were criticising him, but Ange isn’t daft. I’ve met him at training and he’s a good guy with a great way about him. The fans are totally on board with him and I
think he loves it here.’