BRENDAN RODGERS will treat the semi-professional opposition of Gibraltar’s Lincoln Red Imps as if they were Barcelona to ensure there is absolutely no chance of an embarrassing slip-up in his first match as Celtic manager.
The Irishman changed his squad’s plans when he learned last week who they would face in the first Champions League qualifier, demanding they fly straight to the south of Spain on Sunday night from Slovenia instead of returning to Scotland, because he believed that would be the best preparation ahead of the first-leg tie.
This match should be a stroll for Celtic; however, Rodgers has stressed the need for utter professionalism to be shown by his players, something which has been a feature of his reign so far.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers proud ahead of first game with Celtic
The Celtic manager said: “Will we treat them the same as if we were playing Barcelona or Real Madrid? Yeah - that’s what I said to the team when we went through the video analysis. We will give them full respect and the same preparation whether it’s a team from Gibraltar or anyone else.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Champions League or a big game in Scotland. We will always respect our opponent. The game is based on ourselves and we’ll go in with a focus and on the front foot.
“I watched the two games they played in the last round and they deserved to get through. We are doing everything in terms of preparation to make sure there’s no stone unturned and we’re ready for the game. In modern day football you only have to look at Leicester City. No one gave them a chance.
“Our job is to qualify for the Champions League and this is the first hurdle. It will be difficult here when you take into consideration things like the heat, but the important thing is to be in the next round.”
Read more: Celtic's Scott Brown: I feel fit and ready to be the all-action midfielder once again
The tie will be some way from a packed Celtic Park against one of the big boys of European football in a group stage game – which the club is of course desperate to return to.
However, it is still Rodgers’s first official match as the manager of the club he supported as a boy and he admitted: “It means everything. I remember my first game for Liverpool. It was away in Gomel in the Europa League. I’ve still got the shirt from that game. I also got a bottle of vodka - which I’ve not drunk yet.
“There are little poignant moments that might not mean much to some people but will mean everything to me. Being made Celtic manager was a huge privilege for me and every day since has been a dream.
“We had a lovely little group of supporters out with us in Slovenia and there will be a fair few more out here for this. We have Wolfsburg at Parkhead on Saturday, which will be nice as well. But the focus is on this match and hopefully having a good advantage for the second leg.”
The plastic pitch at Victoria Stadium, situated in the shadow of the Rock and right beside an aeroplane runway, is not great, it will be hot and Celtic are three weeks into their pre-season, while the Red Imps are nearing the end of their domestic campaign.
But Rodgers does not believe any of this actually matters after the squad’s two-week training camp in Slovenia which took in four games proved to him his players are ready.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers - I am at Celtic for the long haul
He said: “The only good thing is the boys are used to this kind of surface. It’s probably a better kind of pitch back home but we have to accept it. That’s probably why they didn’t want to chance the venue. They will be comfortable but we’ll deal with it.”
The manager admitted that his first game came about a lot earlier than he would have wanted; Scotland’s lousy coefficient ranking once again doing no favours to Celtic.
Rodgers said: “You’d like to think as champions of Scotland you’d go in to the group stages. But it means we have to do it, and is what we are aiming to do. It just means we have to ensure we do as much as we can with our preparations.
“We are going in to this game with a good mentality because you can’t come in slack and treat it as a pre-season friendly. It’s a competitive game and we are ready to perform at that level.
"With this club’s history, the Champions League is where we want to be - just like every other champion. But you have to earn it. We all want to be at that level as players and coaches, so we are focused at getting through these qualifiers.
“It’s a challenge because of the timing but we have done everything we can to be in the best possible position we can be.”
Stefan Johansen is out for three weeks with a chip in his foot and goalkeeper Logan Bailly could miss the first few months of the season after badly twisting an ankle.
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