Bodo/Glimt’s Sporting Director has come out and rallied the troops, by insisting they use their experience of humbling Italian giants Roma in the Europa Conference League group stage to overcome Celtic. Aasmund Bjorkan has played, assisted and managed Bodo during his time at the club and reckons their lack of European pedigree can be used to the Scandanavian’s advantage in Glasgow tonight.
As reported by Football Scotland, he said: “It’s a great challenge for us, they’re a big team. We know there will be a great atmosphere and it’s a team in Norway that has a relationship with and idea about. We’re very much looking forward to it. They might not know much about us, but we’ve done really well the last couple of years so, of course, people are starting to notice us.
“We might not be a club a lot of people know about, but, for us, Celtic is a team that you’ve always heard about and they’ve had great players, great games and I think the idea Norwegians have is that there’s a fantastic atmosphere and fanbase, so it’s a big game and a new kind of opponent.”
Bjorkan anticipates a different type of challenge from that of Josè Mourinho’s side, asserting that Celtic will be more aggressive and physical in their overall approach to this evening’s encounter. He added: “It’s about learning and we’ve been able to learn a lot from games we’ve had in Ukraine, Iceland or Rome, we’ve coped with challenges so far and this is a new kind of challenge.
“It’s a team that’s used to dominating in their own league, I expect a team that has intensity and fighting spirit. Different from a team like Roma with a different approach, but it’s fantastic for us to meet these challenges.”
The optimism from both camps suggests that we could be in for one amazing night of fast-flowing, intensely attacking football. Celtic enjoy games that are open and free of tactical stoicism, having struggled domestically against teams that try and put men behind the ball and create that low defensive block that leads to a frustrated team, manager and support.
I do think Mr Bjorkan may be disappointed in the end up though!
Paul Gillespie
