Celtic face Red Star Belgrade in the first fixture of the Europa League campaign this season.
Brendan Rodgers will be keen to dispel the ghosts of Celtic’s failed Champions League qualification campaign with a positive result in Serbia.
The 8pm kick-off will see Rodgers face a hostile crowd as Celtic take on Red Star for the first time since facing the Serbians in the European Cup in 1968.
And speaking about the match, Benjamin Nygren has opened up on how he and the new summer signings are settling in at the club, and the Celtic winger couldn’t stifle his laughter as a journalist mocked Rangers at the pre-match press conference.
Benjamin Nygren shares how Celtic have team building behind the scenes
Nygren joined Celtic alongside Kelechi Iheanacho and nine other new signings this summer when he was asked how the club are helping them all settle in.
A journalist asked on Celtic TV [16m 28s], “I know it’s a bit tricky because your manager is sitting next to you, but he spoke about that idea of connection and the team sort of coming together.
“What does that look like? What does that feel like in the squad? Take us take us in and explain a little bit about about how that feels.”
Nygren: “Obviously, it’s connections in a team. It’s not going to work perfect the first couple of times maybe. I think it’s looking better and better.
“And yeah, we will get better and better as a team and make a strong performance tomorrow.”
But it was the next question that caught Nygren off-guard as the journalist followed that up with a cheeky dig at Rangers.
Watch as journalist mocks Rangers and has Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren in stitches
Russell Martin has come under some serious fire at Rangers since details of his team bonding session at Loch Lomond were publicly mocked.
And that mocking continued as the journalist then asked, “What have you been doing to try to improve that? Is it just a case of time, a case of getting to know each other better?
“Have you been on any walks? Been up any hills?”
Nygren couldn’t stifle his laughter as he turned to Brendan Rodgers but then replied, “I think that’s mostly the coaches work.
“They coach us every day in training and also from my perspective as a player on the field, I try to talk a lot with with the players to get connections with each other.
“So, yeah, it’s something we work on every day and yeah, it’s getting better and better every day.”
After the question was answered both Nygren and the journalist shared one final laugh as the questions moved on.
It was a hilarious moment that Nygren certainly wasn’t expecting and the journalist in question won’t be lacking in Celtic fans buying her a drink the next time they see her.
Back to business, the Europa League presents Celtic with a chance to make real progress in Europe and that must start with a win in Belgrade tonight.
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