DESPITE all the hype, most Celtic fans and certainly most pundits will accept that when Celtic play Borussia Monchengladbach in the Uefa Champions League tonight, Brendan Rodgers’ side are playing for third place in the group and qualification for the Europa League.
It seems almost years ago that Celtic stuttered to defeat by Lincoln Red Imps in Gibraltar and the opening 7-0 loss to Barcelona in the first group game would have shattered most clubs.
Yet Celtic bounced back to draw 3-3 with English league leaders Manchester City in a thriller at Parkhead, and tonight they have a real chance of setting themselves up for that third place – at least – by beating the German side who are missing key players and flew in looking just a little bit nervous yesterday.
The final training session before tonight’s game has given Rodgers confidence as he told the club website.
He said: “We have set a lot of standards throughout the season and each time a question is asked of the players they have stepped up – the first game of the season against Hearts, the qualification to get through.
“Of course to get here, the players were asked questions early on and throughout the league campaign they’ve been asked questions but that’s what football is all about. You set a standard and you try to keep improving on it.
“Today (Tuesday) was probably the best session since I have been here. The actual quality, the tactical idea, the intensity of the players was absolutely first-class. That was the best session I have seen in the particular concept we were doing.
“That’s great news for myself, the staff and the coaches as it tells us they are starting to get comfortable with the ideas we are giving the players and starting to enjoy working with them. I think we can see that on the field but there’s still a long way to go yet.”
Rodgers is a great believer in using previous setbacks to inspire players to avoid repeat performances.
“There was a lot of criticism after the Barcelona game and the only way you can overcome that is by performing,” he said.
“The Manchester City game demonstrated that we are good enough to be in this competition.
“We were disappointed not to win. We weren’t just happy with a draw. We had the lead three times and gave two goals away we should have not but the overview, in terms of the performance, was very good.
“Now going into this game there’s a similar expectancy from ourselves. We have to keep pushing. We’re a team that’s very aggressive and we have to maintain these standards and look to improve the standards. That’s my job as head coach and manager to ensure that happens.
“Thankfully I work with a group of players that are very keen to improve. We have a lot of young players who are desperate to be better and desperate to show themselves consistently at this level because that’s what it’s about.
“You have to consistently do it. It’s not just about playing a one-off game. We go into a different challenge against a top side and we have to then rise to the challenge.”
The Parkhead atmosphere is also inspirational: “It’s a very, very difficult place to come. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. It’s renowned throughout the world, Celtic Park.
“It does take your breath away, the game and the atmosphere.”
“Together we have to keep making strides forward and big games like tomorrow night allow you to hopefully do that.”
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