Europa League
Celtic could never afford to play for a draw at Parkhead, says McGregor
IN theory, Celtic don’t need to cross the halfway line to guarantee European football after Christmas. Draw against an already qualified Salzburg on Thursday and Brendan Rodgers’ side will book a place in the last 32 of the Europa League. Sounds simple, right? Callum McGregor would not be the only one who begs to differ.
Former Parkhead boss Gordon Strachan used to scoff at the notion of setting out a team to play for a point, reasoning that any game-plan focusing exclusively on preventing the loss of a goal was unworkable.
While it could be argued that plenty of coaches have perfected the knack of grinding out low-scoring results to progress in tournament football, McGregor knows that is nigh on impossible at Celtic Park.
In an atmosphere added extra electrical charge by the club’s new state-of-the-art lighting, the 25-yearold contends Celtic will have no choice but to attack the Austrians — already qualified as handsome group winners — on Thursday.
For one thing, the crowd will demand it. Secondly, the Scottish champions are at their best when playing with the sort of pace and tempo that proved irresistible to Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig in the last home game.
‘You can’t play for a draw at Celtic Park,’ says McGregor. ‘We’ve got to be aggressive in the game, go out there and try to win it.
‘We’re in a great position where a point will take us through, but the high-octane atmosphere at Celtic Park doesn’t really allow you to sit back.
‘Neither does the way we play — we like to be aggressive, play at a high tempo.’
McGregor has reserved many of his very best performances for Celtic on the big European nights.
Goals against Ajax, Bayern Munich and Zenit Saint Petersburg have been memorable, but against Leipzig he was deployed in a more defensive role, occupying the space in front of the back four that Scott Brown has made his own over the past couple of seasons.
If McGregor didn’t quite bring the same physical edge to the role, he looked a natural at setting the tempo for the team and he held onto that position as they clinched a seventh successive trophy in the Betfred Cup final victory over Aberdeen last Sunday. Brown emerged from the substitutes’ bench at Hampden and then started in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Fir Park in midweek.
With the club captain restored to something approaching full fitness after a hamstring complaint, it will be fascinating to see who Rodgers chooses to set the tempo for the Salzburg game.
Either way, it’s inconceivable that McGregor will be left out. The performance against Leipzig was widely acclaimed as Celtic’s best of the season — and McGregor is advocating a repeat.
‘We had been searching for a big European win and that was probably it for us,’ declares the Scotland international. ‘We were at home, on the front foot and we were excellent that night.
‘A display like that gives you confidence and you just carry that on. When you beat an opponent at such a high level in terms of both the quality of player they have and the amount of money they have spent, it really spurs everyone on.
‘That was just about as good a night as I’ve had. The experience as a whole, with the light show and everything, probably added to it for the supporters, too.
‘I think we are in a real good place going into this game. We have been excellent recently and we need to try to get the win to take us through.
‘It’s a massive boost to have Broony back. He gives us that presence in the middle of the park and when things are getting tough, you need someone to be at the forefront of the team.
‘He has always been that for us and it’s great to play alongside him.’
If Celtic have learned to cope without Brown, the veteran was certainly missed when they travelled to Austria on match-night two of the Europa League.
Odsonne Edouard’s slick goal may have given Celtic a second-minute lead but the Parkhead side were overwhelmed in the second half by a Salzburg team that McGregor feels were underestimated by many.
He continues: ‘Salzburg was always going to be a tough place for us to go. They were Europa League semi-finalists last season and we knew internally how good they were.
‘People outside maybe didn’t quite understand just how good a team they are, but this is going to be a totally different fixture at Celtic Park.
‘We have hit a great bit of form and everybody’s tails are up. We’re high in confidence and we need only that point to get through. ‘If you had told us that at the outset of the group, we would have taken it.’ McGregor made his 38th appearance of the season for club and country in yesterday’s win against Kilmarnock, a number as concerning as it is impressive. Rodgers took the opportunity to leave out the likes of Edouard, James Forrest and Tom Rogic at Fir Park in midweek, and although McGregor suspects he too may be handed a rest at some point before the league splits for the winter break, he is not angling for it. ‘When you are playing well and the team is winning you want to stay in as long as possible,’ he says.
The high-octane atmosphere doesn’t allow us to sit back — and neither does the way we like to play
‘You never take your place for granted, you have to stay hungry. ‘We have lots of games and the manager probably will change it at some point but, as a footballer, at Celtic you want to stay in the side.
‘There are so many games that we need to use the full squad and you have seen just how strong our squad is.
‘You look at the boys on the bench and they are capable of coming on and making an impact.
‘Ryan (Christie) came in five or six weeks ago and he has made a massive impact.’ McGregor is time served at managing a hectic December schedule for the club. Celtic have another six matches to fulfil before the year’s end and then they will briefly wind down before convening for a warm-weather training camp in Dubai. McGregor adds: ‘When you say you have three weeks until the winter break, it sounds great. ‘But when there are six games in between, that makes it very different! ‘It’s difficult but we know exactly what we need to do. ‘It’s about living right, preparing properly for the games and taking that into these big matches.’