Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic side will be excited for the challenge that awaits them tomorrow when they take on Club Brugge at Parkhead.
Coming into this one on a high, Celtic dispatched Hearts at Tynecastle to put some daylight between themselves and the chasing Scottish Premiership pack.
Now, their focus turns back to Champions League endeavours, where a victory over Brugge could see Celtic essentially clinch a knockout playoff berth even if they have to wait a little for confirmation.
Nevertheless, their Belgian Pro League opponents come into the tie fresh from defeating Aston Villa in their last European outing.
In addition, Brugge thrashed Sint-Truidense 7-0 last weekend to keep within touching distance of Genk. Understandably, Brendan Rodgers isn’t taking anything for granted ahead of tomorrow night.
Brendan Rodgers on what Celtic expect from Club Brugge
Noting that he expects a difficult encounter from Brugge, Rodgers explained in his pre-match press conference: “I think they’ve got really good organisation. I watched some of the games they’ve had and I watched the Villa game, very well coached, they know their role, they know their jobs, their front line is fast and dynamic.
“Simon (Mignolet), the goalkeeper I had at Liverpool is a very experienced guy, he’s very calm, so that mix of real young hungry players who have had experience at the level. Teams like Club Brugge, they’re not teams that are spoken about a lot in the same echelons as some of these other big names and big teams.
“But these are teams that you cannot underestimate. They’re very experienced at the level, they’ve got some fantastic players, a very good coach who’s stepped up and taken them and works them very, very well, so we have to be mindful of that.
“For us, we know, analysing them and watching them. What you would expect at this level, dynamic team, creative, will run, will work hard, so it’ll be a difficult opponent for us.”
Celtic hold their own Champions League destiny
Thankfully, Celtic don’t need to rely on favours from elsewhere to improve their Champions League prospects. Their destiny is in their own hands, with ties against Dinamo Zagreb, Young Boys and Aston Villa to follow this one.
Nevertheless, it is refreshing to see Rodgers is taking nothing for granted against a spirited opponent. Both sides are desperate for more points, but the Bhoys hold the key advantage of being on home soil.
Obviously, that can go one of two ways. Despite that, with a strong home crowd creating a wall of noise, the Irishman will fancy his chances of claiming another statement result.
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