Manager: We're looking forward to playing in this special competition again

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Celtic F.C.

·17 September 2024

Manager: We're looking forward to playing in this special competition again

This Wednesday night will see the return of the UEFA Champions League to Celtic Park, and as the Celtic faithful prepare to bring the noise to the biggest stage in football, the champions of Scotland have been preparing tirelessly for the visit of Slovan Bratislava.

Speaking to the media ahead of Wednesday night’s clash, Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers said that he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in the new-look competition.

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“We’re very excited and really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s a special competition which this club has got a rich history in.

“Coming in to the stadium and seeing all the work that’s going on, it makes it so exciting.

'The home games will be vital for us. Bringing that energy from the pitch to inspire our support, which is unrivalled, that opportunity makes us really excited for the game.’

“I think everyone agrees that the format of the draw was good and I’m hoping that the competition itself will be similar.

“It’s fantastic with the different types of teams and games that we have. The club will be going to some of these teams for the first time and the supporters get a chance to travel to some great cities.

“From a football perspective, it’s a great opportunity for us to test ourselves against some of the best teams and that’s always a big challenge from a manager’s point of view.”

Celtic have started the season in blistering form, with six wins from six games across the league and the League Cup.As well as a brilliant run of results, the performances from the Scottish champions have also been of the highest quality, which leaves Brendan Rodgers with decisions to make when it comes to tomorrow’s team selection. In the middle of the park, Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, Paulo Bernardo and Arne Engels have all impressed since the beginning of the campaign.

However, the Celtic manager revealed that having a tough choice when it comes to his team selection is a welcome headache.

He said: “It’s a brilliant dilemma and absolutely what I would want because I know that I can’t just use three players for the whole season. “It’s about having the numbers there so that when one comes in, it doesn’t change. That’s how it will work over the course of the season.“With the way that we play and how we play, our subs can give us an advantage. There’s a cost to how we play, with our intensity and our work, so our bench has to be strong. “It makes me feel like we’re in a really good place because we have that bench.”And the Hoops boss is also prepared for what will be a tough challenge at Paradise tomorrow night against Slovan Bratislava.

“We come in to every game and respect every opponent that we play," he said. “I look at Bratislava, they’ve played eight games to get to this stage, so the amount of work, fight and spirit that they’ll have needed to reach this level, you can never underestimate that.“There might be bigger clubs, but for us we know that it’s a team we’ll have to respect, but we also know that we’re playing at home. “We’re playing well, we’re intense and consistent. We want to bring that energy to the stands and hopefully have a really good night, but we know we’ll have to work really hard.”