THE emphatic win for Shakhtar Donetsk against RB Leipzig in Germany on matchday one of the Champions League group stage may have given Celtic fans a shot of confidence going into their own visit to the Red Bull Arena this Wednesday.
Timing though, may have been everything for the Ukrainians, with the shock result coming within the context of the final tumultuous days of Domenico Tedesco’s reign as manager.
Now with Marco Rose at the helm, who ironically lost his job with Borussia Dortmund last season at least in part because of their Europa League defeat at the hands of Rangers, the Germans are again showing signs of life.
Rose’s first match in charge was a 3-0 demolition of his former club Dortmund, and though they then lost by the same scoreline to Borussia Monchengladbach, they bounced back to put four past VFL Bochum at the weekend.
So, the side that Celtic face will likely be somewhat revitalised, with returning hero Timo Werner and star striker Christopher Nkunku both hitting braces in that match, and the team returning to the more intense style that was their trademark previously.
“Hard work always pays off and I am certainly convinced of that,” Rose said.
“We use the word intensity. I believe that encapsulates what we want to achieve here in Leipzig.
“We want to work intensively, we want to play football intensively, both with the ball and without it.
“But right now I think it is essential we get to grips with a few things and try to, despite the lack of training sessions together, instil a few things that can become second nature.
“That means building on things game by game over the next six weeks until the break.
“It will be a big challenge, but we will tackle it head on and afterwards we will have some time to put some things in place for January that we can also work on in training.
“Until then, we will simply have to keep our ears to the ground, do lots of video analysis in order to get results.
“But, primarily, I am convinced you pick up results by the way you play and perform and the way you approach games. And we want to win lots.
“We want to be a force to be reckoned with at home. We want to feed off the atmosphere in the stands and get the fans going with what we do on the pitch.
“We also want to put in good performances.”
