Excited Brown looks at the positives of competing against the best

GETTING the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the global superstars of Barcelona would leave countless footballers green with envy. For Scott Brown, one particular occasion left him, well, green.

“I was ill when we beat Barcelona,” recalled Brown of that stomach-churning night in 2012 when Celtic claimed a thrilling 2-1 victory at a quaking Parkhead.

“I was meant to be in the team but I left at pre-match and kept running upstairs to be sick. I watched it in the house with the shakes. I wasn’t sure if that was illness or because the lads were holding on. It must have been some dodgy food.”

That may have been the case, given Brown’s fondness for the odd kebab after a robust night out. Controversial culinary references aside, the Champions League remains the finest of footballing fare and Brown is relishing another showdown with those cultured Catalans in the Camp Nou.

It will be a huge test of everything that Celtic have in their armoury as Barcelona will no doubt dominate the play. When Celtic beat them on that November night four years ago, they commanded just 16 per cent of the overall possession.

It promises to be another tough old shift but an enlightening, possibly inspiring, one at that.

“They play the way we want to,” Brown said. “We are trying to build ourselves up to play short, sharp passes and keep the ball, play triangles, everyone very tight but with the pace on the flanks to burst forward. It will be a great insight for us. But we need to go and play too, be brave on the ball because if you are not, it’s going to be a long night. It can be hard to get the ball back because they want to control the game, find holes and spaces and penetrate you.

“You’ve got to be as positive as you can. We have created chances and scored goals against them and they have the philosophy that if you score two, we will score five. It’s hard because we know we have the players to create and score but we also need to stay compact and not give them a sniff of the goal. Hopefully everyone plays as well as they can because we can’t be carrying anyone. They are the best team I have played against.”

Brown’s retirement from the international scene meant a few days off while Scotland were in action in Malta last weekend. The rigours of a