Club Brugge boss Nicky Hayen has spoken out ahead of his side’s clash against Celtic in matchday five of the Champions League league phase.
The visitors lie six points behind Genk in the Belgian Pro League table, but they come into this one with momentum on their side and a sizeable travelling support making their way to Glasgow.
Last weekend, Club Brugge thrashed Sint-Truidense 7-0 and Christos Tzolis scored four of their collection, making him someone who Celtic will be advised to keep an eye on at Parkhead.
Nevertheless, home advantage has proven to be the Bhoys’ best friend over their last three Champions League matches, yielding victories over Feyenoord, Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig.
Brendan Rodgers will harbour hopes that his side can rise to the occasion once again, and he also has a firm admirer in the opposition dugout.
Nicky Hayen is a fan of Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers
Speaking to the press ahead of Club Brugge’s trip to Celtic, Nicky Hayen has revealed his admiration for Rodgers and also put across his excitement to experience a ‘crazy’ atmosphere at Celtic Park against a ‘quite complete’ opponent.
He explained: “You see that he’s a coach who really wants to play football, even from the back.
“He wants to invite pressure and always tries to find the right solution. He has the players to go deep, with deep runs from their attackers in the second line. Celtic are quite complete as a team but also as individual players.
“You see Brendan’s hand in it all. You could say that British football is more ‘kick and rush’ but here at Celtic you never see it. It’s always a clean build-up from the back and that’s exactly what a coach wants.”
Later, he added: “I heard from people that the expectations here are really big and that the atmosphere will be crazy and that they are waiting for us.
“These are the games you want to play as a player and we just have to stay calm, embrace all these feelings and just perform on the pitch. I don’t think it will be a really closed game. It will be open and let’s hope it will be an exciting evening.”
The Champions League scene is set for Celtic
Admittedly, trying to track placements in the new league phase table is a difficult endeavour, but Celtic will be in a good position should they claim three points against Brugge this evening.
Ultimately, this is an unforgiving competition. There is no room to become complacent, even if the temptation is to relax with a healthy points tally on the board.
Now, the task for Celtic is to take their participation in the competition to the next level by edging closer to securing progression.
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