Greg Taylor says focused Celtic will treat the Tony Macaroni exactly the same as the Bernabeu because their badge demands it. The Parkhead team will finish their Champions League campaign on Wednesday against Real Madrid. However, beforehand, Taylor and his team-mates have crucial Premiership business when they visit Livingston on Sunday.
The full-back has made it crystal clear Spain won’t even be considered until they’ve dealt with the test in West Lothian. Boss Ange Postecoglou wants Champions League -level performances constantly delivered in the Premiership and his in-form defender says there is no other way at Celtic because desire must always be the same whether the opposition is Real or Livi.
Taylor said: “The badge demands it. It is as simple as that. It does. Every game is big at a club this size and Sunday is no different because Livingston away is a difficult game. It is a game we will approach in the same way we do every game, treating our opposition with the utmost respect and aiming to put on a performance.
“You will see the fans when we go to Livingston. It will be like a home game for us and they will be cheering us on from minute one until 90. With the way that Europe has fallen for us this year, we want to give them something to cheer about domestically.
“They [Livingston] have shown throughout their time in the Premiership that they have got a good way of playing and they stick to it whilst all playing for each other. So we all know it is going to be difficult, but it’s a game a lot of us now have experience of and, when you get experience of occasions, domestic or Champions League, it does help.”
Celtic have not got the results they have wanted in the Champions League, but levels of performance have been good in spells and Postecoglou is convinced that repeating the Euro intensity on the domestic front will reap rewards. Taylor agreed and said: “If we can reach the levels we have reached in the Champions League, we will be pretty alright in the league stuff and domestic games because the level needed is really, really high.
“It is the best competition in the world, but Sunday is now the big one. Livingston has been a tough place to go throughout the years and they will be wanting to get a result. Equally, we want to do more than get a result, we also want to put on a performance for the fans.”
READ NEXT
