Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed how he wants his players to make Bayern Munich hurt tomorrow night at Celtic Park in their Champions League knockout play-off first leg.
Celtic go into the game in fine form with a 6-0 win over Dundee six days ago and a 5-0 win over Rath Rovers on Saturday at Celtic Park. Although Bayern will undeniably be a tougher task, the Hoops have stepped up a gear in preparations for the game against Vincent Kompany’s side.
The Hoops’ last game in the Champions League last month against Young Boys at Celtic Park was a must-win, with a victory ultimately sealing a place in the knockout playoffs. The game itself was far from straightforward, with three goals disallowed for offside and Daizen Maeda sent off late in the game.
A Loris Benito own goal gave Celtic the win, with Rodgers discussing how he feels that supporters understood the significance of the game. Despite the match not going to plan for much of the game, Rodgers believes it will help Celtic tomorrow night against Bayern Munich, a side the Irishman is looking to beat, not just compete against.
He told CeltsAreHere: “I go back to the Young Boys game here and I know I spoke about that leading into the game and I thought when it could have got a little bit nervy in the last 15 minutes, the supporters were amazing. They sensed it and they really got behind the team and lifted the team.
“So that side is very important and I feel it’s great. It’s where I wanted to take the club back to where we come here. It’s not just a tick-box exercise for players to come and say they’ve played at Celtic Park.
“You want them to hurt in this arena as well and you want them to find the challenges of that combination between the supporters and the players on the pitch, making it a really, really, really difficult night. Obviously, this will be a massive test of that, but that’s what we sign up for.”
Rodgers sounds ready to make a statement tomorrow night, and although the Hoops have done well to get to this stage, he is clearly not settling for just making the knockout playoffs.
Instead, he is looking for his side to make history in front of the Celtic faithful in a game that is arguably the Hoops’ biggest in 12 years, since the last time they reached the Champions League knockout stages under Neil Lennon.
Bayern will look to quieten the home crowd early, but if Celtic can get the first goal, it will further increase the Paradise atmosphere.
Whether Kompany and his Bayern players will be able to deal with this remains to be seen. They have been far from flawless this season, particularly in Europe, having failed to make the top 8, and this will clearly give Rodgers confidence.
Celtic have made Celtic Park a fortress over the last 12 months, particularly in Europe, but tomorrow night will be the ultimate test of just how far they have come under Rodgers, and he will be desperate to push them onto new heights come kick-off.
