Brendan Rodgers has vowed Celtic will be brave against Bayern Munich as the Hoops set their sights on causing a Champions League shock.
The Parkhead side are looking to overturn last week’s 2-1 play-off first leg deficit at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday. Celts head to Germany on the back of a slick 3-0 Premiership victory against Dundee United – where Rodgers managed to rest some of his star men while also getting vital game time in to wing ace Jota. The Portuguese attacker was on target against United and is bang in the frame for a start in Bavaria.
And Rodgers insisted his side are ready to go for broke. He said: “We always want to keep our boldness, but our humility is important as well. We understand the size of the task, but we want to go and give the best that we possibly can. We know we’re going to have to defend for long periods of the game and defend well, but we also know that we can cause them a problem with the ball, and that’ll be the idea. We’re in a really good place, I think it’s an exciting challenge for us and a big opportunity for us.
“We had a really exciting game in midweek, with a great atmosphere. We unfortunately just lost out. It was a really good game, but you’ve got to come into this game and do your work and the players worked ever so well, keeping a clean sheet again, scoring the three goals, creating other opportunities. I can only be happy. It’s now an important recovery process, we get in tomorrow, recover well and then get ready for Tuesday night.
“We’ve made great strides this season from last season in the competition. We’ve been competitive. I wanted us to show our level throughout the competition and we’ve done that. We’ve had to come back from some adverse moments, so it all bodes well for the progression of the team and whatever happens on Tuesday, the guys can be really proud of what they’ve achieved and we look to build on that.”
Rodgers wants Celtic on the front foot in Germany but he won’t go gung ho against a side who have not lost at home in the Champions League for five years. He said: “It’s about balance. I think that’s the idea. If you go out gung-ho the other night, then you can run out of legs at the level. You see it in the Champions League – you give everything and then all of a sudden you can get picked off with the quality.
“So it’s always about balance. There’s always a moment to press the game, especially when you’re away from home. It will be a balanced performance and you need to be concentrated because they have players in attacking areas who are world class. If you give world-class guys space, they can hurt you. So for us it’s a balance, but a real mentality to be progressive and see if we can make them think.”
Rodgers is considering chucking Jota after the returning winger lit up an impressive all-round display against United. The Celts boss said: “He may do. It’s more not his best level because I think he’s shown that, he’s shown his level since he’s come back in, it’s just a fitness thing really. That’s why we’re managing him through those moments, so today was another chance for him to get some minutes.
“The performance was excellent, the quality of our football. The surface is difficult at the moment but it was a really high level how we connected the game and all three goals were individual quality.
“The work we put in right from the first whistle was terrific. We’ve played four times since United’s last game, so we knew they were going to come fresh. Jim’s done a great job with them, getting them very organised, very compact, very hard to score against. I thought our overall game was really, really good.”