BRENDAN RODGERS knows what to expect on Thursday evening from regular Parkhead visitors Rosenborg. This will be the Norwegian Champions third visit to the East End of Glasgow in little over a year and their tactics are pretty much understood by the Celtic manager, who has challenged his own players to respond accordingly.
“When we played Rosenberg before they sat in deep. In the first game in particular they were very deep and we saw a lot of the ball but couldn’t quite make the breakthrough,” Rodgers said reflecting on the first game last July with ended goalless.
Looking back on the more recent encounter which Celtic won 3-1, the Celtic boss was full of praise for his team’s performance on that occasion.
“They took the lead with a good first goal and to be fair our response to that was excellent. We expect them to be compact, to be tight and so it’s up to us,” Rodgers continued. Perhaps that is the only competitive game so far this season where an abundance of chances has been created.
On the new Celtic fans forum the Celtic Noise, there is a thread asking are Celtic too passive in attack? Few supporters think that they are not. And Brendan agrees too.
“This is an area where we have to significantly improve on,” he admitted.
“We need to get back to creating more opportunities. We have to demand a bit more from ourselves at that final third of the pitch. We have kept four clean sheets but we have to do more in the attacking areas.
“And it’s just not the attackers. That’s everyone. The speed of our game from behind, playing our passes quicker, playing forward and also taking more responsibility at the top end of the field.
“That is something we’ve been working on and something we want to take into this game.”
This third meeting – in mid September rather in July, will wipe out the Norwegian fitness advantage (they play summer football so are mid-season in July). Rodgers, as always paying attention to detail, sees this as significant.
“The difference here is we will be further ahead in terms of our fitness.
“When we played them last time it was right at the beginning of our season, so I’d like to think that now we’re a period of time on we are sharper in terms of our fitness,” Brendan said.
“It still means it’s going to be a difficult game. We would like to start with a great crowd, we want the stands to be full – everyone of course wants the Champions League – but this is still a very important competition for us.
“I would say to the Celtic supporters to come out, give us your great support because that it is vital for us to do well.”
Celtic are in an interesting group and it really is anybody’s guess which of the four teams will come out on top. Celtic seem to have Rosenborg’s number so hopefully that could give us an advantage but the two Red Bull sides FC Salzburg and RB Leipzig are both more than capable of winning this group.
It really is all to play for and the other Celtic advantage – the home crowd on European nights – is capable of making a telling contribution perhaps more in this competition than in the financially doped Champions League.
“It’s an important part of our season, playing in Europe, for the development of our team, the individual players. It is something we have benefited from over the last couple of seasons,” Brendan continued.
“There are some really good teams in the competition, we are in a good group and we would like to start with a good performance and a win. So we are looking forward to the game.
“I look forward to these nights. Part of the attraction of coming here was the possibility to playing in Europe with Celtic and no matter what competition it’s been in, it’s been absolutely fantastic.
“For me, it’s the start of another important campaign for us between now and Christmas. Our aim is to play well and show the experience we’ve got from our experiences over the last two years.”
