RONNY Deila is a firm believer that you should always judge an opponent by the strength of the football club and not the country they come from.
If the Scottish national team, for example, faced a double header against Azerbaijan, there would not be too many nerves stretched regarding the prospect of taking maximum points. Since independence, the former Soviet state have never qualified for a tournament and their highest Fifa ranking is 73.
And yet their best club side, Qarabag FK, will be far closer to Celtic than many may believe. They are beat-able and, indeed, the Scottish champions will be favourites to see off their opponents over the two legs of the Champions League third-round qualifier, but the Azerbaijani side will also believe they can get through to the play-off and become the first team from that country to make the group stage. Wednesday night is going to be crucial for the Glasgow club’s entire season. If Celtic can win at home with a two-goal advantage then the daunting trip to Baku would become less of a test.
Deila remains calm about what lies ahead, insisting his side hold an important advantage in that Qarabag will tomorrow fly west over several time zones, which won’t be easy to adjust to in the short time they will be in Scotland.
“We will start showing the players footage of Qarabag on Monday or Tuesday,” said Deila. “It is going to be a very big challenge for us. You just need to look at the results last year in the Europa League to know it’s going to be a very competitive game. We are looking forward to it.
“We will take care of our travelling. That will be good for us. They have to play at night [the 7.45pm kick-off is 11.45pm their time] while we will kick off over there at 5.30pm our time. Celtic are so experienced that I don’t worry about these things. Will the time difference matter? Yeah, I think so. It is harder to travel the way they will have to compared to the way we are going, with the time difference.”
Qarabag have a well-earned reputation for producing football that is easy on the eye. They like to get on the ball, pass and keep possession. The hope for Deila is that his side are ready for such a test and will be able to stamp their authority over the first 90 minutes.
“They are quite a technical team,” said the Norwegian. “They have a few Brazilians and Spanish players. They have a team who will want to attack and play football. The full- backs are very offensive, so it’s going to be a game with a lot of tactics and also a lot of tempo.
“It is important to know that we have the best fans in the word, in my opinion. To create, on Wednesday, the atmosphere we had against Inter Milan last season will be so important for us; to put them under pressure and to lift our players. That is what we need to get a result.
“I think we are ready. We have played a lot of games and I have seen improvement all the time. We’ve had some good results and scored a lot of goals. They are in the same situation as us. They have not started their season yet. In terms of being physically ready, we are a totally different team compared to last season.”
Stefan Johansen is Celtic’s resident expert in all things in Azerbaijani football in that he’s been there once. Last November, the midfielder played as Norway won 1-0 in the national stadium and he knows at least a little about what to expect.
“It wasn’t the best pitch,” Johansen said. “It’s always tough, especially in Europe, to go away to play. Their national team played with fight, they played hard. It’s going to be physical but I believe we have a good chance to get a good result.
“It was a bit cold when we there and they just painted the grass green. If you fall down, you are all green.”
Three days after the European tie, Deila will watch the league flag being unfurled on Saturday before his team begin the defence of their title against Ross County.
The domestic campaign has almost crept up on much of the Celtic support with all their focus on the European qualifiers. But Deila has not taken his eye off anything.
He said: “I have been very clear in my goals for the season – reach the Champions League and win everything in Scotland. Play attacking football and develop the club and the culture here in the way we play and our style. I can’t be clearer.”
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