CITY STARS ‘SPOOKED’ BY CELTIC PARK
NIR BITTON looked into the eyes of David Silva and saw shock. The body language of Sergio Aguero suggested a similar level of trauma. The Celtic midfielder knew Parkhead could be an intimidating environment but the sight of Manchester City’s marquee players wilting amid the intensity of a Champions League night in the east end of Glasgow lifted his appreciation of the stadium to a new level.
Within three minutes, Moussa Dembele had scored and Celtic were on their way to claiming a 3-3 draw against their aristocratic opponents on a breathless night of football.
Having spooked City, Bitton now hopes Borussia Mönchengladbach are as susceptible to a Glaswegian noise-up on Wednesday night.
‘The atmosphere lifts us, everyone saw that against City,’ said the Israeli internationalist. ‘They have world-class players and for the first 20 minutes they were in shock.
‘Aguero, David Silva — you could see they were in shock.
‘There was panic in the defence and the players were just booting the ball. You never see that kind of thing from Pep Guardiola’s teams.
‘I don’t think they were ready for it and Celtic Park was one of the reasons for that.
‘Aguero has played for a long time in England but, with all due respect, he won’t have faced that kind of atmosphere in the Premier League.
‘No stadium has that atmosphere. That night was the best I have ever played in, I can’t compare it with anything else.
‘Celtic Park on European nights is something different, it gives you goosebumps. The Champions League is a different tempo, you cannot compare it to any SPFL game. City have top-class players but after the game you could see they felt lucky. It is not easy because you come to Celtic Park and you don’t know what is going on.
‘We just need to make the most of it and make sure Gladbach are just as thrown. It’s about how we start the game and how we play.’
The significance of the home and away double header against Borussia cannot be understated.
City may have been rattled by the Scottish champions but, combined with a comfortable 4-0 win over the Germans on match-night one, the result left Pep Guardiola’s team well placed to proceed to the knock-out stages alongside section leaders Barcelona.
Already, Celtic’s back-to-back games against Borussia have the look of deciding third place and the accompanying spot in the latter stages of the Europa League.
‘Gladbach are a very good side and will make it tough for us but we need to try to play the same way as we did against City,’ continued Bitton. ‘I’m sure the atmosphere will be as good if not even better but, although the crowd can help, we can’t give their players space and time. We need to press them the same way as we did against City. I think everyone believes Manchester City and Barca will finish one and two, so if we want to be in Europe beyond the Champions League then we need to make sure we beat them.
‘Celtic Park is our home, our castle, so we need to make sure that we win.’
Bitton’s own game seemed elevated against City, his midfield partnership with the rejuvenated skipper Scott Brown helping Celtic to stamp their authority on a match few doubted City would win.
In common with most of his teammates, the 24-yearold suffered a drop-off in form during Ronny Deila’s second season in charge and it requires only the most rudimentary of deductive powers to spot the influence of Brendan Rodgers on the playmaker’s form.
Bitton admits he has been treated to personal counsel from the former Liverpool boss. ‘The gaffer likes to play attacking football, likes everyone to be positive and proud with the ball, so that is what I try to do,’ he continued. ‘As you can see, he likes attacking football and likes everyone to go with the ball, set the tempo and set the pace. ‘Hopefully I can continue like that. Obviously I had some meetings with him but I will keep those with me.’ Such is the all-consuming power of the Champions League that it has completely overshadowed a looming Betfred Cup semi-final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden next Sunday. Bitton is happy to put the derby on the back-burner for now but is adamant Rodgers has set a standard for every game Celtic play in this season. ‘The performance against City is what we are looking for in every single game we play from now on,’ he stated. ‘It doesn’t matter if we are playing City, Gladbach, Barca, Kilmarnock or Partick — we need to play with the same pace and intensity. ‘If we can beat Gladbach, then beat Rangers, we go into the final and it could be an early trophy for us. ‘That is what we want. We want to go to the treble and hopefully we will do it.’