BRENDAN Rodgers wants his Celtic players to take the game to Manchester City in midweek, believing they were “too passive” in the 7-0 loss to Barcelona. Celtic welcome Pep Guardiola’s side to Parkhead on Wednesday night hoping home advantage will help as they look to put their first Champions League points on the board.
They were taught a lesson in the Nou Camp on matchday one and, although Rodgers acknowledged Barcelona have the ability to destroy any side, he was frustrated that his players did not do more to break up play, making only three fouls in the entire game. He hopes they will be more aggressive against City.
“I think that is fair to say [we were not in Barcelona’s faces enough],” he said. “When I came away from the game, analysed it and studied it [I could see] we were too passive in the game. We were set up to be super aggressive when the ball got to the middle section of the field. We were set up in a three-quarters pitch press and you have got to be aggressive, you have to disrupt their game. We can’t go in and match Barcelona in football terms in the Nou Camp. No matter how good I might think we are, we can’t do it. That was the only disappointment for us, I think we had only three fouls in the game.
“So [against City] we want to be on the front foot - that is how we play. You watch us and you can see we defend [from the front]. We are a team who go and provoke the opponent and that is every game. That’s the great thing about these players. They are working so honestly. We were playing Alloa and we had to respect them so we had to go and get the ball. City will be a similar version to Barcelona, not as fine-tuned of course, but certainly they have a level of player that is right up there with the best in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Leigh Griffiths is hopeful of making his long-awaited Champions League debut after recovering from the hamstring injury that saw him miss the defeat to Barcelona.
“Whether I’m starting or on the bench I’ll be chomping at the bit to get involved in the action,” said the striker. “It’s one of the games as a kid you always want to play in, walking out with the Champions League music playing.”
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