Celtic prepare to lock horns with Lazio on Wednesday night.
Many view it as a crucial tie for the Scottish champions following their opening-game defeat to Feyenoord. While the performance was commendable, especially when they went down to 9 men, points are of the essence if they hope to be playing European football come Christmas.
Three points against Lazio would really boost Celtic’s chances of playing European football after Christmas.
Ahead of this pivotal clash, Celtic’s manager Brendan Rodgers expressed his ambitions and the drive to push the team forward in Europe. He also said that bringing European success to Celtic was not for self-gain, but was for the club and supporters. [Celtic TV]
“It’s not about my CV; it’s more about bringing the club forward at this level which, believe it or not, is quite challenging. It’s the very elite level.
“One of the reasons why I came back was to see if we could do something in European football.
“Like I said, it’s something that I’m very driven and ambitious to do. You need certain profiles and qualities to achieve that.
“This season, I’ve seen in the first game that we’re going to be competitive. Hopefully, we can continue to grow in the group and improve.
“For my own CV, it’s absolutely irrelevant to me. I’ll always try and maximize what I have with the resources at my disposal and do the very best we possibly can.
“The game has changed in the last decade, financially and economically, making it hard for teams like ours at this level.
“But it doesn’t mean we approach these games with fear. We’ll play with no fear, with bravery, and see where it can take us.”
Celtic have had a good start to the season, and have gotten some good wins at tough places, quite the contrast of Lazio, who have just two wins in their first run of games in the Serie A. It’s set to be a great matchup.
