THE TWO Red Bull teams are going to provide us with an fairly accurate assessment of where Celtic are. Three points are in the bag after Leigh Griffiths got that winner against Rosenborg. We can realistically expect to get something from the return trip to play the Norwegians – we’ve done okay over there in the past few visits with a win and a draw, which protected a 3-1 home advantage.
But Rosenborg are pretty unlikely to get much from either Salzburg or Leipzig who are clearly at a notch or two higher level. What we’ll find out is where does Celtic fit in – we’re ahead of Rosenborg but where are we in relation to the Austrians – who won 3-2 in Germany last week and reached the Europa League semi-finals last season – and to Leipzig who are a fairly competent Bundesliga side.
We know they’ll be good but we also understand that these sides aren’t PSG, Barcelona or even Bayern Munich.
Brendan Rodgers has been thinking about Celtic’s standing in European football. He’s taken some thrashings in his time in charge and not all of them away from home. ‘Is it time to change things?’ Brendan has been asking himself.
“I think in terms of where we’re at as a squad, playing against the really top opponents has proved really difficult for us,” the Celtic manager admitted.
“When we picked up the defeats, they were heavy defeats against top opposition.
“I can probably look at myself as well. I’m a very attack-minded coach but the last thing I ever want is to expose my players,” he admitted. Some of those defeats were painful especially against Barcelona and the two games against Paris Saint Germain.
“I always feel the confidence you gain from going against these teams and still playing your game can work to your advantage. But maybe I have to look at it and quell a little bit of that, just so the players aren’t exposed.
“I am conscious of what happens with the players and the impact.
“Not that I’ve seen a great deal of it from them, because everything I ask of them, they do their best. The Europa League is a slightly lesser level in terms of opponent, but they are still going to be tough.
“Salzburg and Leipzig could readily be in the Champions League but the draw was obviously difficult and they didn’t make it.
“But we’ve worked hard to be in Europe so we are looking forward to more really good experiences.”
We’ll get some answers on Thursday evening and if the Celtic defence can stand firm we could give ourselves a chance in Salzburg.
