He might have been a scapegoat in Leipzig. But for the Champions League return tie on Tuesday night, Joe Hart will be a key senior Celtic figure. And in the absence of injured captain Callum McGregor - Josip Juranovic says he’s the natural leader of Ange Postecoglou’s side.
Hart was the fall guy in Germany when his blunder pass allowed Andre Silva to score and take the Group F game away from Celtic. RB Leipzig eventually won 3-1 meaning the Hoops have to take something at Parkhead on Tuesday night. With McGregor missing, they’ll need a figurehead. A voice in the dressing-room and on the pitch against the Bundesliga outfit.
And Juranovic is convinced that Hart is the man to do it, despite heavy criticism for his display in midweek. He pulled off an outstanding save to deny Stevie May in Saturday's win over St Johnstone but in their previous Premiership game, a mix-up between the Croat and his keeper resulted in an own goal for Motherwell. But when it comes to being a replacement for McGregor, Juranovic has no doubts about the former England number one's credentials.
He said: “Tuesday will be a big night for Joe and one where he can show once again who he is. Joe is our second leader. He’s a great character and an excellent goalkeeper. He made a mistake in Germany but there is no way it will break him. Because he’s a champion. He has been for so many years now.
“As Joe said after the game, we play the way the manager wants us to play. It’s an attacking way, which the players want, and it puts individuals under pressure at certain moments. So mistakes are going to happen. But they don’t outweigh all the good things that we produce as a team.
“For example, if you look at our Champions League matches so far, we have created so many chances to score. If we had put away a higher percentage of them, we’d already be in a much stronger position in the group. But as we did last year against Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis, we’ve shown that we can cause problems for some of the biggest teams.
“That’s exciting and it’s where we want to be. Against Motherwell, it was a mix-up between myself and Joe. I believed if I chested the ball back to him, he’d be in the perfect position to receive it. At the same time, he thought he could come and collect it. We both couldn’t be right and it ended up in the back of the net. You don’t want these misunderstandings to happen but it’s football, so it’s always possible. Joe and I spoke about it after the game and we’ve moved on.”
Celtic have a solitary point so far from Group F having lost to Leipzig and favourites Real Madrid. But if they can win their two home games against the Germans and Shakhtar Donetsk, they’ll give themselves a fantastic chance to qualify. And Juranovic says that’s possible, with the backing of the Parkhead support.
He said: “It was a difficult night in Germany but this is a fresh opportunity for us, both in terms of making it right against RB and improving our position in the group. We have gone to Leipzig and Shakhtar, now it is their turn to come to our home. Everyone knows it is no easy thing for an opposition team to come up against us at Celtic Park because of the unbelievable support we have.
“You saw in Germany the amazing backing we got from our fans and that was a small fraction of the numbers who will be behind us in Glasgow. Ask any of the players and they will tell you the backing makes a big difference. If we can win these games – as I’m sure we can – then we can progress through the group.”
They have to see off a talented Leipzig side first, though, and that means keeping £40 million Chelsea target Christopher Nkunku quiet. The French forward was a constant menace in the first game but Juranovic insists he wants to test himself against the best. And despite the individual flair Leipzig have in their ranks, he believes Celtic’s team ethic can get them over the line.
The Croatian right-back said: “RB have some very talented footballers, there is no doubt about that. This is the Champions League and everyone knows the standard at this level is the best. It is where we want to be and I love the challenge of playing against top footballers.
“You can look at a player like Nkunku and see that with his pace and skill he is very hard to stop. However, we know that if we work together, we can do it. Real Madrid are the European champions and some might imagine that is because they have some brilliant players. It’s true, they do. But at the same time, they won the Champions League last year because of the way they played as a team. That was a lesson for everyone. And with the help of our fans on Tuesday, we can be stronger this time.”
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