Celtic v Sporting Braga – Brendan Rodgers Media Conference

Q: Brendan, looking at this game, what challenges will you face tomorrow evening?

Brendan Rodgers: “Braga started the competition with a good victory against Feyenoord. Like most Portuguese teams, they are very well organised. They’ll play, we think, 3-4-3. They are maybe not in the best form domestically, but it’s irrelevant. It’s a cup competition, and obviously, their last result demonstrated that. They’re a team of good players, a good young manager, and it’ll be a good test for us.”

Q: Is it also a good gauge for you as well? You were talking about being realistic in this competition, but will this be a good gauge of where your team are at just now?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I think that we’re all in, in the competition, we want to go as far as we possibly can. We had a good result and the second half performance last week, and if we can take that into this game at home. We want to be really strong, particularly at home. Of course, you need to have strength and resilience, which we’ve shown all season in all the competitions. But if you’re going to do well in this competition, you want to do well in your home games for sure.”

Q: You created plenty of chances over the weekend. Is that a positive you take, but also taking it further, you need to be more clinical?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, it’s a simple message. We have to transfer the superiority into the goals. Our ball speed was good, creativity was good. In terms of my baseline philosophy, and how I want to work, it was there. The speed in the game was good, the creativity was there, chances were there. We just need to find that ruthlessness. That just comes with new players coming into the system, into the structure, understanding how we work, specifically to break down certain defences. But yes, just that final touch, really.”

Q: What do you think the atmosphere is going to be like in this one, given on a European night at Celtic Park, normally, it’s very noisy. This time around, it might not be full. There’s a protest with the silence for 29 minutes. What do you think it will be like, and how do you try and get the players to deal with that?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think our focus is pretty much on the performance on the pitch. That is the only thing that we can control. I really hope that the stadium is full, because that’s what Celtic is about for me. It’s an incredible club, and our history is based around our supporters and what they bring. So I understand frustrations, but I hope that we still have a full stadium here backing the team.”

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