GREG TAYLOR, with the Eiffel Tower as the stunning backdrop, spoke to Gerry McCulloch yesterday for Celtic TV. The former Kilmarnock player looks like being Neil Lennon’s first choice left back going into the new season and he’s certainly looking forward to the not inconsiderable challenge of facing the likes of Neymar, Mbappe, Choupo-Moting and Icardi.
Rather than enduring sleepless nights at the prospect of facing that lot, Taylor is relishing the opportunity to play against some of the best forwards on the planet. PSG have their eyes firmly fixed on winning the Champions League next month and it certainly would not be much of a surprise if they succeeded in that objective.
For Celtic, after the two games in Lyon, where Taylor notes that just about all the players in the Celtic squad got 90 minutes of football in, it’s all about stepping up another level tonight as the pre-season trip to France comes to an end against the French Champions.
Last time Celtic played PSG in Paris Brendan Rodgers went toe-to-toe with them and Moussa Dembele gave Celtic an early lead. That was as good as it got as Celtic were well and truly thrashed by a rampant PSG side and given that they have scored 16 goals in their two earlier warm-up matches, it could be a long night for Celtic.
But there are a few factors in our favour this time. Neil Lennon is no Brendan Rodgers and is more than willing to adapt his tactical approach to recognise the increased level of the opposition. Celtic tonight will look to shore up the defence and minimise the opportunities that PSG can create.
And as we mentioned on Sunday, PSG plan to rotate their squad tonight so we’ll play for perhaps half an hour against their reserve side, not that these aren’t going to be decent players! That is exactly where we found Odsonne Edouard so there may be one or two others tonight who could catch Neil Lennon’s eye! We live in hope.
Expect the Celtic side to look something like this….
Bain
Elhamed, Jullien, Ajer, Taylor
Forrest, Brown, McGregor, Christie, Elyounoussi
Edouard
Tonight’s match will be played at the Parc des Princes with a 6pm (Celtic Park time) kick-off, that’s 7pm in Paris. Premier Sports are showing the game in the UK and Ireland and Celtic TV will broadcast for the rest of the world.
Here’s Greg Taylor’s interview with Celtic TV…
ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR…
“What Budget?” ominous words from the Celtic manager Neil Lennon…https://t.co/HTVSvMGjSZ
— The Celtic Star Editor – INVINCIBLE (@CelticStarMag) July 21, 2020
Charlie Shaw – one of the greatest of all the old Celts | The Celtic Star https://t.co/GcNIlB2aGU
— The Celtic Star Editor – INVINCIBLE (@CelticStarMag) July 20, 2020
