Neil Lennon said at his press conference yesterday that he didn’t agree with Dan Petrescu.
The Northern Irishman dismissed claims that a Cluj win would be a “miracle” for them (Celtic TV). This came after Petrescu had apparently made the claim earlier in the day.
It was clearly a mind-game tactic from the start from the shrewd tactician. Petrescu has been in the game long enough to have learned a few tricks. He was showing them too as it’s clear he doesn’t truly believe Cluj beating Celtic would take a miracle. It’s a blatant attempt at trying to shift the pressure of the tie over to us.
But Lennon has had obvious signs that Petrescu doesn’t really think that way all week. What were those signs? The Cluj players’ confidence during this week’s build-up.
In the run-up to this one, all we’ve heard from Romania is how confident our opponents are ahead of this tie. First and foremost, it was their Director of Football Bogdan Mara who claimed that he was confident his side would overcome Celtic (DigiSport).
Meanwhile, Petrescu also hasn’t been helped by several of his players’ comments either. Mario Camora also described the tie as “difficult but not impossible”, and talked up his team’s chances of success (Scottish Sun).
He’s not been the only one either. Mihai Bordeianu of Cluj has also spoken about how confident they are ahead of the upcoming contest. He also says his side knows “everything” there is to know about Celtic (DigiSport).
Petrescu has failed to build the “miracle” mind-set he’s intended
It’s clear the Cluj manager was trying to shift the pressure onto us ahead of tonight’s match. He wants us to feel the heat whilst trying to take the pressure off of his own and reassure them.
But the truth is, Cluj have mainly come across as over-confident heading into the tie. Their players haven’t been able to keep quiet about how ready they are heading into this one. Even their Director of Football has chipped in too.
We know that there’s a confidence to Cluj heading into this match. They don’t see this as a free-hit, and they most certainly don’t see beating us as a potential “miracle”.
Neil Lennon will have seen these comments from their end. They must’ve been a big help in making him dismiss Petrescu’s comments so quickly. It was the first thing he mentioned at his press conference, and he seemed keen to get it out there.
You can’t blame Cluj for trying it. It makes sense to try and put the favourites under more pressure, but we all know the truth about how they really feel.
They believe they can knock us out, and probably believe it quite comfortably. Unfortunately, if Petrescu wanted to blind us as to how they truly feel, his colleagues have let him down.
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