DAVID Turnbull has admitted Celtic’s players are determined to write their names into Scottish football’s history books tomorrow night by beating Champions League holders Real Madrid.
Turnbull and his team mates are set take on the star-studded Spanish giants in their opening Group F match at Parkhead.
Getting a result against Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who won Europe’s premier club competition for the 14th time in May when they beat Liverpool in Paris, will be difficult for Ange Postecoglou’s charges.
However, their playmaker, who netted in a 4-0 win over Rangers at Celtic Park on Saturday that sent his side five points clear at the top of the cinch Premiership, is keen to help the Scottish champions record a famous triumph.
And the Scotland internationalist stressed Celtic will go on the offensive and play their usual “Angeball” style of football in a bid to achieve their objective despite the quality of their opponents.
“Every game you play for this club, you know you have got a chance of writing history,” he said. “That’s what the boys will go in looking to do.
“It will be the biggest game of my career. It’s a huge club. They have won the Champions League the most times. So to come up against them will be great.
“These are the ties that you want and games you want to play in, but you still go into that wanting to win and trying to win. It’s just the pressure that comes with playing at a big club like Celtic.”
Turnbull added: “We don’t want to sit back against any team. We want to go out there and play our football whether it is Real Madrid or whether it is Ross County.
“Going into any game, that’s what we want to do. It's about going into each game the same. The manager has drilled into us from day one the way he wants to play and that won’t change for anybody.
“I don’t think we’ll change. We’ll go into the game full of confidence and try to play our own game. Whether it works or it doesn’t, we will stay play that way and, hopefully, it does work.”
“We will just go in thinking it’s another game. Obviously it’s a huge game and the glamour that comes with it because it’s a huge team. But looking to the game, we want to play our own football and go in there and we'll see what happens.”
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi and centre half Carl Starfelt both limped off in the win over Rangers on Saturday and are doubtful for the Real game.
However, Turnbull is confident that Giorgos Giakoumakis and Moritz Jenz, who took over from the duo at Parkhead, can perform well for Postecoglou’s team if they start.
“Hopefully, they (Furuhashi and Starfelt) are fit,” he said. “You don’t want to see anyone injured. Hopefully it won’t be too long.
“Competition for places at the moment is huge. You saw against Rangers the boys who came on and stepped into their places were brilliant. They didn’t look out of place.”
