It’s clear that the prospect of heading out into the Celtic Park cauldron this week has the Bodo/Glimt players extremely excited.
Indeed, the Hoops will face off against the Norwegian champions in the UEFA Europa Conference League last-32 this week. The first leg will take place at Parkhead before the return game at the Aspmyra Stadium.
The first leg is sure to be something of a culture shock for the Glimt stars. Their own home ground can only house just over 5,500 supporters. So when they step out into the 60,000+ Celtic Park, it’s likely going to be a major moment for them.
And it’s clear they can’t hide their excitement about the game either. Their stars have been consistently talking about the atmosphere inside Parkhead, with the latest being new signing Runar Espejord, who said the following as quoted by the Daily Record:
“I have heard a lot about the atmosphere at Celtic Park and I’ve heard they are crazy, so I am looking forward to it. I love a good atmosphere and it inspires me. You don’t get it too often so you have to enjoy it.
“It’s an insanely stylish match to start the year with all the glitter around it. I’m really looking forward to it. Not many people get to experience these types of matches.”
Bodo/Glimt players can’t hide their Celtic Park excitement
Espejord isn’t the only Bodo player to be cranking up the excitement levels ahead of tomorrow night. On their official website, Brede Moe labelled their Parkhead encounter a “huge experience” and a “big event” for their players.
You also had the Bodo/Glimt captain, Ulrik Saltnes, big up the potential atmosphere in Glasgow tomorrow night too. he outlined his hope for a capacity crowd as he lauded the “fantastic” Celtic support [Daily Record]. The same goes for goalkeeper Nikita Haikin [The National].
You can hardly blame them. It’s not often they get to experience such an incredible atmosphere despite their title success in Norway. There isn’t a stadium in Norwegian football that can hold a candle to Celtic Park. So this is a huge event for our Conference League rivals.
Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t look as though tomorrow night’s game is going to be a sellout at face value. There are still plenty of tickets remaining, and it instead looks on course to hold upwards of 50k.
Even so, that’s still a massive improvement on what Bodo/Glimt experience on a regular basis in Norway. It’s still an atmosphere that could very well intimidate them. Granted, they were hardly fearful when they took a 2-2 draw from the Stadio Olimpico earlier this season.
It’s going to be an intriguing contest for sure, but everything still points to Celtic coming out on top. Hopefully, that proves to be the case.
In other news, Willie Miller urges Aberdeen to consider following the Celtic and Ange Postecoglou example
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