NEIL LENNON spoke to Media at the Telia Parken Stadium in the Danish capital this earlier today ahead of tomorrow evening’s Europa League Round of 32 first leg against Copenhagen.
The Celtic manager was relaxed and quietly confident of making progress into the latter stages of this year’s Europa League. Incredibly it’s been 16 long years since Celtic won a (non-qualifying) knock-out tie in Europa with Barcelona (of all clubs) being the last side to lose to the Hoops.
Celtic are on top-form and there is a real belief among the players, management team and also the 5000 or so supporters currently gathering or on their way to Denmark. The full transcript is below and the video is also out now on Celtic’s You Tube channel and is available below.
🎙️ Neil Lennon speaks to the media at Telia Parken Stadium to preview tomorrow's @EuropaLeague Round of 32 tie.
"It will be a difficult game. They're tactically very smart." #COPCEL #UEL pic.twitter.com/oTyLq9v2dI
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 19, 2020
What are you expecting from Copenhagen?
A difficult game. Tactically they’re smart. I played here before and we lost. They’re very athletic, defensively well organised. Good structure. We’re expecting a tough night.
How well placed are you going into this match?
We’re in good form. Confidence is good, we’re not taking anything for granted. The stadium – I’ve just been out looking at it – it’s magnificent. The pitch has been relayed and the pitch looks good so when the players get here they’ll start getting excited about the game.
Who has travelled and who hasn’t?
Hatem Abd Elhamed hasn’t travelled, nor has Greg Taylor. He picked up an injury at the weekend. Leigh Griffiths picked up an injury in training. He’s got a slight twinge but we’re hoping the latter two will be fit for the weekend.
In terms of the shape, is it a dilemma to go back to the 4-2-3-1 that worked or stick with the 3-5-2?
We can use both systems so we’re quite comfortable with both. We’ve a fair idea of what one we want to play in tomorrow.
✈️🇩🇰
In the zone. 💯#UEL #COPCEL pic.twitter.com/2Dh7oTRwfK
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 19, 2020
In terms of this two-legged affair, away goals are crucial, is that a message to go out and score early and put your impetus on the game quickly?
We’ll try and influence the game in that way. You have to be very mindful of Copenhagen’s danger men, they do put the ball in the box a lot. They get good width from the full backs as well. They’re a strong side and they’ve got goals in them. Getting an away goal would be fantastic, that’s what we’ll be aiming for to try and take to Glasgow.
What has pleased you most about the side since the turn of the year?
Just the consistency and the win ratio. There’s been a lot of things. The amount of goals we’re scoring, the consistency of performance, the level of performance, individual performances.
Celtic are favourites to go through this tie, is that something that sits comfortably with you?
Well I’m not a bookmaker so I don’t know if we’re favourites or not. Copenhagen have great pedigree in Europe. The manager is a very shrewd manager as well. Very experienced. I don’t know if we’re favourites or not, we’re just coming here to play as strongly as we can.
What’s your thoughts on your first experience of VAR coming up?
I’ll be needing a little bit of patience. Hopefully not tinged with frustration. It’ll be an interesting concept because obviously we’ve not used it before.
📸 All focus on @EuropaLeague…
Next up: Copenhagen! 👊🇩🇰#UEL #COPCEL pic.twitter.com/1wpeBywo7l
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 19, 2020
With the referee going to the pitch monitor, is that the version of VAR you think works best?
The decision is still solely with the referee and not with a committee elsewhere.
Do you feel ready for the next step? It’ll be the first time in the last 16 if you get there across the two games.
Well we’re in good form. I touched on a couple of injuries there but we’ve got a good compliment of players here as well. Confidence is good, obviously not taking anything for granted in terms of Copenhagen. They are a strong team, they are difficult to beat and they came out of the group with some difficult teams like Dynamo Kyiv and Lugano left behind so can’t underestimate Copenhagen. Our away form in Europe was very good but that was the first half of the season, hopefully we can take it into this half.
You couldn’t be in a better place right now, could you?
We had a fantastic and very difficult win at the weekend. That set us up for this game so the players are looking forward to the occasion and want to make inroads in the competition if they can.
What does it mean to be away first?
It’s psychologically good if you get a decent result. It’s really important that we don’t let the tie get away from us tomorrow night. We need to stay in the tie and we know what we can expect back in Glasgow. It’s really important we’re concentrated, defensively organised and get a good structure.
How come you didn’t decide to have a training session in Parken before the game?
It’s something we don’t do. We just train at Celtic Park and make our way. It’s something that’s been done with the previous manager and we’ve carried it on. Sometimes as a player I liked to train at the stadium but it’ll be a nice experience for our players to see a magnificent stadium like that tomorrow night and I’m sure the atmosphere will be raw as well.
Here’s the manager’s Media Conference courtesy of Celtic’s You Tube channel.
Help raise money for Celtic Youth Development by joining the £1 weekly lottery and you could win up to £25,000 – just click on the photograph below to join. Lots of our readers have already done so and they’re now doing their bit to help fund Celtic Youth Development that can deliver the stars of tomorrow and beyond. And you might even win a few bob too!
