Q: Brendan, what pleased you most about the performance the other night in Italy?
Brendan Rodgers: “I think that we’re a team that normally, obviously domestically and a lot of times we play, and especially at home, we’ll want to take the game by the scruff of the neck and impose our way of working in the game. But you know when you come up against superior teams away from home and that you’re going to have to be in difficult situations where you’re not going to have the running of the game and in that there, you need a high level of concentration.
“That was probably the biggest part that really pleased me, is that concentration level right to the very end against, like I said, a team from a superior league and a top, top team. We showed that we could defend well and be compact and tight and all the things that we spoke about before. But we showed a great physicality in the game as well to match their physicality and right to the very end, right to the 94th minute. So, there were so many pleasing things.
“I think that it’s great, it was a game where the players can take huge confidence, knowing that we can play some brilliant football, some fast football, score many goals, but to keep a clean sheet and play how we did out there, not only does it galvanise the players and their confidence and when those moments come, because they’ll come again, especially in the Champions League.
“It will happen in the league sometimes as well, but certainly in the Champions League, you’re going to have to go through spells like that. We now know that we can do that. It’s also great for the supporters. You know, the supporters, as much as the football is great and intense and everything and blah, blah, blah, they also need to know that your team can have a bit of dig, a bit of grit and determination and I think we’ve seen that the other night against a top team.”
Q: You’ll take this position, won’t you? You’re off to four points after three games.
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, very much so. I think people say to you, you’ve got a home game against Bratislava and then away Borussia Dortmund and away to Atalanta to have four points out of that. You would be very, very pleased.”
Q: Just generally, in terms of this week, very good results for all Scottish teams in Europe, an indication that perhaps it’s not as bad as some people think.
Brendan Rodgers: “Well, what do you guys think? Listen, it’s waves, isn’t it? You’re going to be judged at the end. I think you’re going to have spells like you say, Rangers had a good result last night, Hearts. So, it happens sometimes as well, but what’s also understanding is that sometimes for the Scottish teams, it takes a little bit of time to get into it as well. I think over the likes of ourselves, we jump from our domestic league, which is a fantastic league, into the Champions League, which is the very highest level.”
“So, that jump is a huge jump. With the greatest respect, we’re not playing that every week. It’s not like a Premier League team that has that, where you’re playing it every week and you get that level and speed and intensity in the game. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to then adjust to it. But, I think all you can do, and listen, all you can do is look after your own club and be the very best that you can be. And where we sit after the three games, I’m more than happy with, knowing that we’ll improve as we go along.”
Q: Is recovery the important bit of this last couple of days, given you probably have to do a lot more running?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I just think it’s the intensity level of that. It’s why we try to play at the level we do every week, so there’s not so much a big change. Our game domestically is to impose ourselves right from the very beginning, to play as fast as we can and directly as we can, and then take that intent to the next level. But it is a step up, so, of course, after games like that, physically and mentally, there’s a recovery needed, of course. But the players are in a really good place today. They feel like footballers today, which is great. After Dortmund, it was a tough, tough one, but they’ve also shown great courage and they’ve shown that they can then go on, because that was a big ask, going out to Atalanta on the back end of your last away game, to produce that performance really shows the togetherness of the team and the mentality of the squad.”
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