The Sunday Post (Newcastle)

Will Ancelotti’s gods smile on Rodgers?

- By Danny Stewart sport@sundaypost.com

BRENDAN RODGERS is looking forward to renewing his acquaintan­ce with Carlo Ancelotti in a competitio­n the Bayern Munich boss has made his own.

The Italian is the only manager to have won the

Championst­imesMilan Madrid.knowsaid whenpre-was bumpedtime­sCarlohas him.in fairly “““Wherever“Players“after CarloHeHa seasonthea­te’ s He intense.has since. calmingand reasonably–managersRe­adingwas Celticwe normallytw­icedoneint­o gotis like once game Leagueheat someonepla­yed manager.him him waya a has with with great Chelseaand who whenand comes greatwell ,” abouta gone,three RealI’vefew job.are AC hea II footballin­gwill again.” conversati­onturnof passedpiec­eOn “motivation­He beto whichof on. gaveone great informatio­nhistory particular­occasionme­to is Ancelottil­ikelysee a and great him onethebit to it night,” Managersaw­ardsand night““I It we was was Rodgerswer­eand with at a sharingPau­l Associatio­nI Wednesdayt­he was recalled. Clement Leaguea with taxi. Swanseapla­y- Readingsai­d, “Carlo off‘ Youon turnedand finalthe will we Monday.to againstwin hadme and the on Monday.’thinkwas,“I said, ‘It’s that?’ ‘Whatthe and footballin­gmakeshis replyyou gods’.andthe “I teamhe asked said, that what ‘You’re sackedhe playing meantyou. So, had with for the AC sure, same Milanyou whenwill againstwin. I was I Juventus.them after We they were had playingsac­ked me and I was told we would win because of the footballin­g gods and we did.’

“After we got out the cab, I thought, ‘Please be right!’ And, of course, he was because we won.

“Hopefully when we meet this time the footballin­g gods will be telling him it’s Celtic all the way!”

Even if it is not, and the odds would suggest the Hoops will be vying with Anderlecht for third in the group and the consolatio­n of a Europa League place, Rodgers is eager for the chance for improvemen­t the competitio­n presents.

“This is an environmen­t where you can develop your counter-attack,” he said.

“We don’t get a lot of chances to do that domestical­ly so it gives us a chance to improve our game.”

And for fans to measure for themselves just how good the club’s £ 4.5 million signing Oliver Ntcham really is.

“He will be fine. I was interested to see how he would fit into the team and as time goes on, his confidence and level will get better.

“He lives for his football – he loves it.

“You see the quality, the weight of his passes and his intelligen­ce.

“This won’t intimidate him, he is a good player and this is the place to show it.”

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Bayern Munich’s Carlo Ancelotti.
■ Bayern Munich’s Carlo Ancelotti.

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