JERRY TOLJAN is the latest Celtic Star to state that the players haven’t written off their chances quite yet after the disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Valencia last Thursday. And the German believes that a miracle can happen in the Mestalla tomorrow evening and Celtic can cause an upset.
“It wasn’t the result that we wanted last week,” Jerry said to the media before the flight to Spain. “We were up against a strong side, but we still have the second leg to come and we can play a little better and achieve a better result over there.
“Personally, I haven’t been in the position before where my team was able to turn things round after a first result like this one.
“But maybe this is the time. Hopefully, we can go there and score an early goal, which will give us a chance. We started last week’s game very well but if you make basic mistakes at this level then it can cost you.
“In Spain, we need to cut out the errors and also improve our play. I genuinely believe we can score against them and, with a little bit of luck, turn the tables on them.
“Our game plan was fine last week and we were very good for the opening 20 minutes and could even have opened the scoring.
“Like I say, though, mistakes against a side as good as they were will cost you the game. It was an open game but they didn’t cut us open or have many chances.
“However, if we score first at the Mestalla we will see what happens. If we can do that, then maybe that will affect them mentally and they will start to think about what might happen next — because you never know in football.
“We will go there in a positive frame of mind and try to win.
“They might think that they are already through to the next round but we can maybe get inside their heads with a good start.”
Toljan was blown away by the noise created by The Celtic support last week and of course getting past Valencia would give him the opportunity o experience another big European night under the Disco-lights at Celtic Park before he returns to Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
“I really enjoyed the atmosphere before the game, it was really good,” Jerry said. “Celtic Park and the Westfalion (Dortmund’s ground) are both at the highest level when it comes to that. Playing Europa League football was a big attraction for me when I came here.
“The competition has many top-quality teams in it and it was a big reason for me joining Celtic.
“We have forwards like James Forrest, Oliver Burke and Scott Sinclair, who are very quick and they are also good players.
“They have also proved that they can score goals so I just hope that we can create the opportunities for them on Thursday.
“Dortmund may be watching me in the Mestalla but I play for myself. I just want to be perform well, no matter who is at the game.
“All that counts for me is to get game time. It will be my first time in that stadium and it would be a big result if we could somehow go through.
“As we say in Germany, hope never dies. So we’ll go there with the right attitude and try to beat them. Miracles happen.”
