Ange Postecoglou got plenty of plaudits last week without getting his mitts on any points. Now the Celtic manager is in Poland looking to grab both.
Postecoglou ’s charges go into Wednesday's Champions League tie with Shakhtar Donetsk on the back of a highly encouraging opener against Real Madrid. In the end Celtic were unable to keep the kings of Europe out but their efforts drew acclaim and applause from their fans and various observers.
But Postecoglou isn’t just in this for his team to look good. Asked if he’d rather take points than plaudits from Poland the Celtic boss said: “You can do both. That’s our intent. We want to play our football and win. I don’t think they are mutually exclusive. When we play our football and play well it gives us our best chance of success. We don’t need to change our approach, we just need to play at a good level for the duration and hopefully that’s enough.
"Against Real we did that for a certain amount of the game. We’ve just got to make sure we stay committed to our football for the duration of the match. If we do that we’ll have a good chance of success.
“We didn’t win last week and I said after the game we were disappointed with that. Champions League football is always demanding because every team wants to win and every win you get is hard earned. So we’ve got to perform at our absolute best for the whole game to get something out of it.”
After taking in footage of Shakhtar’s success over RB Leipzig it’s little wonder Postecoglou realises only his team’s best will suffice at the home of Legia Warsaw. The Ukrainians were outstanding against their German hosts as they picked them off on counter-attacks to secure a 4-1 win. Postecoglou said: “Playing away in the Champions League is always a tough encounter particularly when you’re playing a team with the quality of Leipzig.
"They did well. They were very dangerous on the counter-attack and have some very good individual players.
“They played with a real energy. They are a tough opponent. Every team’s got its dangers at this level. There is not any team that doesn’t have its threats. We’ve got to be aware of that, but from our perspective it’s about trying to perform at a level we know can give us a chance of success.”
Naturally, a notion that it’s not just Celtic playing an away game leads to a feeling of an advantage lost for Donetsk as regards the venue. Having been unable to play at their own home for eight years, Shakhtar are using Warsaw as their base for a trio of Group F games.
Postecoglou doesn’t see much difference as his team prepare to go back onto a surface they graced in July in a tribute match for Artur Boruc and said: “We don’t worry about it because it’s not in our control. They have sort of been doing this kind of thing for a little while now, so from our perspective, it doesn’t really change anything. All we can do is focus on ourselves. We try to play a certain way home or away, so I guess being in a neutral venue doesn’t affect us.
“We played in this stadium in pre-season in front of a good crowd. There will be a good atmosphere again so we’re looking forward to it.”
The Russian invasion that has led to Shakhtar having to head for Poland has brought great sympathy around the globe and Postecoglou has nothing but respect for the courage and spirit of the Ukrainaians through these awful times in their homeland.
He said: “Absolutely. You’ve got to respect what their whole nation has been through and their people are still going through.
“Obviously the football team is a source of pride for them and I’m sure for everyone who plays for Shakhtar or the national team carries that out on the field. That’s something we’ve got to be respectful of but again, it’s a football match and from our perspective, every team we play in this Champions League, we know it’s got to be a tough opponent for different reasons and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Unlike Shakhtar, Celtic had last weekend off due to non-footballing issues but Postecoglou sees no massive benefit. He said: “Either way we’ve tried to use the time we’ve had to get ready for this game. If we’d had a game it would have been good but we trained instead.
“The good thing is the majority of the squad is healthy and in good physical condition. Obviously we had two big games last week against Rangers and Real and our physical numbers and the way the players got through was really positive.
“We’ve used the days in training just to make sure we maintain that level of fitness and make sure we’re in good condition for this game.”
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