Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers spoke to media earlier today ahead of the Bhoys’ Champions League clash against RB Leipzig at Parkhead tomorrow.
The Irishman has his side sitting on four points from their opening three encounters, above the likes of Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid.
Of course, Celtic sit above Leipzig in the Champions League standings as both sides lock horns tomorrow in a encounter with much at stake for both clubs at the halfway point of the league phase.
Last time out, a steely 0-0 draw for the Bhoys away to Atalanta earned a valuable point in Bergamo despite having to carry out some backs-to-the-wall defending across the 90 minutes.
Stereotypically, Celtic are a side who prefer to play on the front foot, but their ability to rise to the dirty side of the game won plenty of admirers in Scottish football circles.
Now, Brendan Rodgers has elaborated on how his outfit could approach tomorrow’s encounter against Leipzig after forming a blueprint for results on the continent.
Brendan Rodgers squad update and RB Leipzig challenge
Aired live on Sky Sports News, Rodgers detailed that Celtic will be ‘aggressive’ when necessary alongside mixing their adventure with the same dogged defending that led to a positive result against Atalanta.
He also touched on how the squad is looking and how previous encounters in the competition have shaped his thinking.
Starting off, he stated on the squad: “No, everyone is in a good place. Obviously, it’s a quick turnaround, recovery, but no, everything is good.”
Rodgers then added on the challenge Leipzig pose: “Listen, I think Red Bull Leipzig will be no different to the likes of Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund. A top team, right towards the top of their league. Have everything that you would want in a top European side, speed, strength, power, technique, so it’s a brilliant challenge for us and we’re really looking forward to it. Having been away for the last couple of games, on the back of a really good result in Atalanta, (we’re) at home and we’re really excited by that.”
Moving on to the positivity gained in Atalanta, he continued: “I think we showed here in our first game (Slovan Bratislava) that we started and played the football and the intensity we wanted. We obviously go to Dortmund and that was a really challenging night for us and obviously, we’re really grateful for the support we had after that, the supporters were really good for us on what was a really difficult night.
“That gave the players the energy and the confidence then going forward. Like it is, you always have to learn and be better and we were against Atalanta, a really really outstanding team. Now we have the chance now to come back home with a full house, really bring our energy to the game, but we also know we’ll have to defend for good periods of the game as well and defend with the concentration and commitment that we did in Atalanta.”
Rodgers: Concentration key for Celtic at home to RB Leipzig
Later, Rodgers went on to address how the Bhoys’ 7-1 defeat against Dortmund has become a learning curve: “Definitely, it was a challenging evening in many aspects, but I’ve mentioned it before with this group of players. What carries any individual or any team is the mindset. This is a team that’s mindset is to improve and to be better. We knew we needed to be better after that game, me included and we were able to go away and focus on that and we were much better in our game in Atalanta. So yeah, this is another good opportunity for us to perform at a high level.”
Finally, the Irishman eluded to concentration levels being key against Leipzig, stating: “As I said, in the three games you mentioned, the Borussia Dortmund (game), a lot of the ideas were similar because you’re playing against such a top level of opponent that the game just got out of control too quickly for us in Dortmund and we were probably just individual then in our pressing, but that allowed us to regroup again and go to Atalanta and press how we wanted to, defend how we needed to and the players showed that they could do that against a really top attacking team.
“So we’ll need to do that again tomorrow, there are going to be times we are going to be able to press the game, be really aggressive on it. There’s going to be moments where were going to have to be controlled in that and then look to play and cause them a problem when we have the ball.”
Celtic ready for RB Leipzig test on home soil
Without putting too fine a point on it, Rodgers sounds calm and collected as his side prepare to take on Leipzig, which is unsurprising amid their 6-0 victory over Aberdeen last weekend.
Undoubtedly, the second-placed Bundesliga outfit will be a far tougher test, but there is no reason the Bhoys can’t harness their momentum amid an excellent recent run of form.
Confidence is at an all-time high at Celtic. Now, the onus is on Rodgers and his men to deliver a decisive Champions League result with the world watching on.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
