IT has frankly been a very long time since Celtic has enjoyed the away form that we’ve seen in European competitions this season. Only the Dead Rubber defeat to Cluj in December against a makeshift side packed with fringe players is the only negative on a stunning run of matches which of course includes that famous old win in Rome against Lazio – the first time ever a Celtic side has won a competitive match on Italian soil.
Yesterday Scott Brown spoke in Copenhagen about the confidence that is now in the camp ahead of the European away days as the Celtic captain eyes a first leg lead tonight to take back to Paradise next week.
“We’ve been working on our away form. When we were on the winter break in Dubai we worked on different formations and styles,” the Celtic captain told the Media at the Telia Parken Stadium in the Danish capital, as reported by Celtic FC.
“The manager and his staff are huge on us trying to keep as many clean sheets as we can and I think it’s all coming together. If you’re not conceding a lot of goals away from home, you get that belief that you can sneak a 1-0 to take back home under the lights at Celtic Park.
“In Europe we’ve always looked at our own form, especially when teams are coming to Celtic Park and you’re trying to get nine points from the home games.
“If you go away and get a point here or there it’s a bonus. We set up very well and try to catch teams on the counter-attack with the pace we’ve got in the team.
“In Europe I think we defend that bit more as a team and sit a little bit deeper than we do in the league. But we want to come here and play football, try to dominate the ball and depending what formation we play, we’ll work on that.”
The Celtic captain admitted that the squad has talked about a dream appearance in the Europa League Final in Gdansk and revealed that Neil Lennon has been using his own experience as a Celtic player going to the final against Porto in 2003 as motivation.
“The manager always talks about going to Seville as a player and what a great occasion it was. I’m not saying we’re going to get to a final, but to get through this round would be a huge step for this bunch of lads and for a new manager coming in for his first season back as well.
“At the start of the season we wanted European football after Christmas. We just want to keep pushing for as long as we can.
“People fancy us to win home and away, no matter what. Our supporters expect us to dominate the game and win the game, whether it’s the Scottish Premiership or Europe.
“We’ll try and get a good result, a solid performance, then take it back to Celtic Park and take it from there. It would be huge to get an away goal and keep a clean sheet, but Copenhagen are a good side and we’ll need to work hard to do that.
“We’ve been out to have a look at the pitch and it’s brand new, so hopefully it’ll play well.”
Watch Celtic captain Scott Brown speaking to the Media yesterday at the Telia Parken Stadium, courtesy of Celtic’s excellent You Tube channel…
Celtic’s potential Ten-in-a-Row Euro-Roadblocks | The Celtic Star https://t.co/iATXaxzxdb
— The Celtic Star Editor (@CelticStarMag) February 20, 2020
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