Brendan Rodgers has backed maturing Celtic to proudly pen another cherished chapter in their Champions League story.
And the boss admits it would be special to lead the club back into the knockout stages of Europe’s elite competition. Rodgers is adamant his evolving team can defeat Young Boys and surge towards the play-offs having seen them grow in the competition this term and bring pride with their showings.
Success over the Swiss will surely clinch a spot in the latter knockout stages for the first time in 12 years. Rodgers knows there will be a cup final feel as players and fans unify to hunt the triumph and said: “I think it’s what makes Celtic Park so special. This really is a stadium that is iconic with the atmosphere. I think a night game here in the Champions League gives us a real connection with the past and the great story that this club has with this competition many years ago. It’s what the culture and the history of this club has been set on.
“A club that won the European Cup at that time, playing the most amazing football through that sequence of games. That’s what creates your culture and your history and that’s what we live to replicate each and every season we play. So, I think our feeling going into this game is to have that synergy because it’s so important.
“It’s what the founding values of this club has been about, connection, people together. We’ve seen already this season and it’s the most amazing place to be in and that’s what we want to have tomorrow. The Champions League story so far has been, in the main, really good for us, especially at home, so we’re excited about the challenge of the game and looking forward to it.
“I think the perfect story I always hear is to make the supporters and the people proud of your performance level. We know the challenges at this level once you get to a certain point, but for me it’s for the supporters to dream but to see the team play the football that we like to play and like we’ve seen in other games here.
“When we’re fast and dynamic and attacking and pressing and everything about our game is about the press to get the ball, to score goals and create goals and when we do that then that’s when we look at a really good side and then let’s see what can take us there.”
Asked what it would mean to lead Celtic to the knockout stages, Rodgers continued: “Clearly very special. It’s something that I haven’t done. I mentioned when I came back that we would like to make genuine progress at this level. I never promised anything, I just promised we would do our very best but looked to see if we could progress because it’s been such a long time.
“There’s been some good performances without results. The managers before me have done great jobs here. “But what we wanted to do was to be able to make that next step and I feel we’re in a great position to do that.”
As for the team, he added: “It would say that they’ve matured, because your actions always will represent your development and I think this team have and certainly from my own view of seeing them since I’ve come here, seeing that development and the consistency that they’ve shown, it would be a great sign that yeah, you can actually do it.
“So I think once you make those steps then that will give you confidence going forward. But I’m just looking forward to seeing us perform. Everyone will look at the expectation that’s on us, but we expect ourselves to go and perform. We’ve had three games here now at this stadium. The atmosphere has been incredible and we want to bring that again and finish off this run of games in the group stages with a win.”
Celtic has won respect at the highest level this term and Rodgers said: “It’s very important because I think that’s what you value.
“You know your resources and finances will be nowhere near some teams at this level. However, you still have the ability to compete and play a level of football that makes your club proud. I think we’ve done that. After the Leipzig game, I couldn’t be more happier with the team’s performance in that game. How we started the game, how we responded to go behind, how we played, how our press and everything on the pressure was there, the creativity, the chances created, the goals, everything I’d want in a team we saw that night.
“We want this place to be a difficult place to come to. It was for a number of years. It’s been a challenging decade for this club because of resources and everything else. But I think we’re starting to see that we really can compete and not just compete, but play to a level of football that’s synonymous with this club. If we can continue to do that, that would of course make us really, really proud.”