RYAN CHRISTIE was the Celtic player put up to speak to the media alongside manager Neil Lennon when the club arrived in northern west France last night.
Christie was mentioned by the Rennes manager as a key threat to the home side this evening, along with fellow Scots James Forrest and Callum McGregor. And the Rennes manager Julien Stephan will also be concerned about Celtic’s three French stars who will all be keen to perform on home soil and in Odsonne Edouard Celtic have the French Under 21 goalscorer who has made a big impression in the home of the World Champions after his recent four gaols in a game and a half for the Under 21s.
Olivier Ntcham is likely to come into the Celtic side this evening, as Neil Lennon looks to combat the tactical 3-5-2 formation that Rennes prefer and Christopher Jullien, a £7million signing from Toulouse in the summer, will be keen to impress in his first game back in France since joining Celtic.
Ahead of this evening’s early kick off at Roazhon Park, Christie is quietly confident that Celtic can come away with a result.
#UEL Matchday 1⃣ is here! ????
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⌚ 17:55 CPT
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#⃣ #RENCEL pic.twitter.com/iexz0IoVdz— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) September 19, 2019
“We’re always confident in our attacking play,” the 24-year-old midfielder said.
“We have a number of players in the squad who can do it. We’re scoring a high amount of goals domestically and in qualifying so long may that continue. With the form we’re on now we definitely come here posing an attacking threat.
“We’ve got players in the squad who have experience across Europe. That’s nice to have and in games like this you do need to rely on experience in some parts of the game. We’ve shown that after the frustration of the Cluj game and we turned it around very quickly against AIK.
“That away performance against them showed a lot of maturity and we’re wanting to kick on now.”
Christie appreciates that Rennes have also made a good start to their own season and confirmed that Celtic expect a tough challenge tonight.
“We know how good they are, we can see that in how well they’ve started their domestic league. It’s two very good teams coming up against each other. We need to go into this expecting them to be very good.
“We’re very prepared. We’re excited to kick off the group. I think every game in this group will be tough. We have a big ambition to progress to the group stages and to do that you need to get result, especially away from home. We’re excited to get going,” Christie said in Brittany, as reported on the official Celtic site.
Christie also considered the opportunity for the club to play fit again Tom Rogic alongside him, and noted that this happened when Christie forced his way into the Celtic side last autumn and some of the football at that time was tremendous to watch.
“It’s positive that Tom is back fit. Competition across the squad is always good and I’m delighted to see Tom back because he’s such an incredible player.
“I can’t speak too highly of him, even though he plays in the same position as me! He’s been outstanding to watch ever since I’ve been at Celtic. Hopefully he’s over the injuries and he can kick on.
“When I broke into the side last season, a lot of the time it was me and Tom playing together. We were both in there, which I loved. There’s no reason why it has to be just one of us in the side. We can both play at the same time. That would be happy days for me.
Just don’t hire a Citroen 2CV6 to drive to the game or you may struggle to find your parked car afterwards ???? pic.twitter.com/6Z8gW47j1F
— Matt Corr (@Boola_vogue) September 19, 2019
“I’ve learned during my time at Celtic there’s never any room for complacency. There are so many good players in this squad, especially right now.
“If you look at the squad list after the window closed, we are strong in every single position.
“With the form we’re on now we definitely come here posing an attacking threat.”https://t.co/bGuSl9M2cN
— Celtic View (@CelticView) September 18, 2019
“It pushes people to be at the top of their game because there’s always someone there waiting to take your place.”
Here’s Ryan’s Media Conference from Rennes, courtesy of Celtic TV.
A few of the comments on the Celtic TV You Tube channel, and remember they need the clicks after falling behind the World’s Most Successful You Tubers last month…
“Christie will be pivotal if we get anything from the game. Really looking forward to seeing how big Jullien does aswell.”
“These are no mugs we are playing here, they will be a big test. No injuries and even a draw would be good!”
“Come on Celic we can do it, but knowing us, we will do it the hard way.”
“Really fancy us getting 3 points, definitely should play the three French boys, one nil Celtic.”
“Ryan Christie is a cracking wee player, good interview son, come on the Hoops.”
“He is a decidedly decent young chap!”
“Keep it disciplined defensively, we should be ok tonight.”
▶️ Watch Neil Lennon and @ryanchristie2's #UEL press conferences on YouTube now!#RENCEL ????
➡️ https://t.co/kSW51NnYag pic.twitter.com/aH8H49ZcyF
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) September 18, 2019
ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR TODAY…
Rennes v Celtic – It’s Wide Open, ‘every team will take points off each,’ reckons Lenny ahead of Europa League opener…see HERE.
Why Celtic’s European Credibility is at Stake in Rennes – David Potter…see HERE.
