Callum McGregor says it is up to him and his team-mates to make Celtic Park a fortress in Europe again.
For the first 11 or 12 years of this century, our wonderful stadium held real fear for some of the continent’s leading sides.
Manchester United, Juventus, Barcelona, AC Milan and more were all defeated in Glasgow. Bayern Munich famously celebrated escaping with a draw in 2004.
However, that kind of on-field reputation has since evaporated. Celtic Park is now likely to be viewed as one of the easier places to get three points in the UEFA Champions League, as painful as that is to hear.
Since our 2-1 victory over Ajax in 2013, we have played ten games at home against Europe’s very elite. None of those have been Celtic wins, only two have been draws, while eight have been defeats.
Our unique atmosphere is still revered by the best players. But they usually speak about it after helping their side to three routine points. That needs to change if we’re going to have any success in the competition. McGregor certainly agrees.
“Everybody talks about this being a place they all want to come and play,” the Celtic captain told The Scotsman ahead of Lazio’s visit.
“Because of that, they obviously come here and have a memorable experience. The only way we can add to that is by making this place a fortress.
“By all means, they can come here and have an enjoyable night when it comes to the atmosphere and stuff. But we need to make sure they haven’t left with any points. That’s the next bit for us.
“This is a big match. Hopefully, we can step onto the pitch and produce a positive performance. A win would be massive.”
Every reputation has to be earned. We had to start somewhere at the beginning of the century when trying to make our ground one of the hardest places to take points home from.
Tonight could be the start of the big Celtic Park fightback. Sure, we may never get back to the days when nine home points from nine were a regular occurrence. But we can do a whole lot better than ten games without a victory.
It may just take one win for this new Celtic side to fully believe that they belong at this level. In that regard, there is hardly going to be a bigger chance as a pot four team than Wednesday night.
Yes, Lazio are a good side with some excellent players. But that’s the standard you can expect in this competition. They are struggling domestically and have already lost to Genoa and Lecce among others this season.
What a massive opportunity for this squad to earn that breakthrough win and start a new run at home.
In other news, Chris Sutton makes Celtic comment after Manchester United & Arsenal lose in Champions League
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