Celtic’s Champions League journey is about to ramp up a notch on Thursday night when they take on Real Madrid in the Spanish capital - and it will arguably be the toughest challenge the women’s team has faced in their 17-year history so far.
Last week’s 2-0 defeat to Dutch champions FC Twente provided a sharp introduction to the intensity of European competition. Celtic battled well but ultimately fell short in what was – on paper – their best chance of picking up points in a group consisting of Real Madrid and Women’s Super League champions Chelsea.
Las Blancas are well-versed in Champions League football, having competed in the last four consecutive tournaments. Although, they have been beaten in their last six group stage matches following last week’s 3-2 loss to Chelsea in London. Debutants Celtic know they are the underdogs, but manager Elena Sadiku’s message to the squad is clear: be brave, be confident - and fear no one.
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“The badge is huge,” Sadiku said. “We all know what Real Madrid stands for; we know the experience they've had in the group stage. But for us, we need to go into the game and try to do our very best to get points and think about how we're going to win it.
“And that needs to be our hunger and game plan. Respect them, yes, but fear no one. I've said it before, and I think that's something that I'm really looking forward to seeing tomorrow because I want to see brave, confident players taking the challenge on.”
She added: “It was Kelsey [Daugherty] who said that we need to show swagger. We are the champions of Scotland.”
It is a quick turnaround for Sadiku’s side who made their Champions League debut at their new home of New Douglas Park only last Tuesday. The defeat to Twente was the Scottish champions’ first of the season, but the Swedish head coach says it was a performance the girls can be proud of.
“They fought throughout the whole game, and for me now what we learn from that is: can we do better in possession? Because we got a lot of corners. We created half chances. We had a great chance in the second half so it's more about learning from that experience and seeing what we can do better [for the Madrid game]. But overall, I think obviously playing against top teams and quality players, the intensity is different.”
She continued: “If we can manage that intensity and do the same domestically, we know that we're going to get even better and more dominant, so I think this this experience in the group stage is going to be great for us in the future.”
