CELTIC broke their usual European routine on and off the pitch in Trondheim on Thursday evening.
On the pitch it was a Europa League first for Celtic – a win away from home after Scotty Sinclair headed the inch perfect cross from star-man James Forrest’s cross to give Celtic the three points.
And off the park there was a change too with Brendan Rodgers bedding down the Celtic party in Norway for an extra night to better prepare them for tomorrow’s Betfred Cup Final against Aberdeen at Hampden.
The manager spoke about his reasoning for this change to the post match European routine which usually sees the Celtic party head to the airport and fly home after the post match duties – the press conference and so on – have been attended to.
“One of the key things is sleep when you are recovering,” Brendan explained.
“If we had gone back on Thursday night it would have been the early hours of Friday and the players would have had to travel back to their homes.
“They might not have got back until about 3am.
“Then that means you get them in that little bit later on the Friday and there is a tiredness to their work the next day.
“It’s not quite the same, but this way we have been able to travel home nice and relaxed.
“The players had a lie-in on Friday and then met to do some work in the pool or the gym.
“We did this before when we played in Israel in my first season and we stayed overnight in Be’er Sheva,” the Celtic manager said.
Any advantage that Derek McInnes hoped for due to Celtic’s tiring trip to play such a vital game in Trondheim might just have disappeared.
Also on The Celtic Star this morning…
Celtic’s League Cup Wins, No.16: The first of many for Brendan…See HERE.
Jim Craig – Tommy Coyne got two and Charlie Nicholas one…See HERE.
Why not try David Potter’s League Cup Quiz and test yourself with these 17 multiple choice questions about Celtic’s 17 victories in this cup competition…go on, have a go!
