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Brendan Rodgers sets Celtic 'next level' challenge as he tells Hoops stars what he wants to see in Dortmund

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Brendan Rodgers has challenged his Celtic stars to take their game to the next level as he named the TWO things he wants to see on display against Dortmund.

The Hoops have jetted out to Germany for matchday two of the newly revamped Champions League as they look to follow up their hammering of Slovan Bratislava with a famous victory on the road. The rise in the quality of opposition is evident for the Scottish champions who are 'under no illusions' over the standard of team they will come up against.

Callum McGregor and Co arrive in the perfect mindset having hit St Johnstone for six in a thumping McDiarmid Park win at the weekend, and now Rodgers wants his players to show that what they do week to week domestically and what they showed against Bratislava at Parkhead can be transferred to the biggest stage of them all as they bid to dump the German giants in front of the Yellow Wall in their own backyard.

He said: “I think for us it's looking to bring our game to the next level. I think how we've been performing over probably the last six, seven months has just been increasing. Now we've come to this level and we're under no illusions about what we're playing against a team that are challenging the very top end of elite football.

“But for us, I've always said, whether it's domestically or whether it's away in this competition, it's making us a really difficult team to play against with and without the ball. So for us that's what we want to be able to do. I'm not looking for perfection, I'm just looking for us to be really, really difficult to play against and give everything we have. Bring our game, which is to press, to fight, to run. We know at times that quality drives you back and then it's having that resilience in those moments.

“But we also know that we have a game that can hurt teams as well, with our football and our speed. So I'm really excited about seeing that. I will only know when I see it. Bringing that quality that we show domestically and being able to take it out into this amazing arena and playing with that confidence, with that belief and that courage.

“But I don't doubt that. I don't doubt that with this team and what I've seen now over a period of time. It's something that we'll know we'll have to face stress in the game and face pressure but that's even the very best teams that happens to.

“But for us it's transferring that game model that we see week to week and that we've seen in the first leg of the Champions League or the first game. And to do that, if we can do that, we can be a really difficult team to play against tomorrow night.”

On Dortmund, Rodgers continued: “Yes, they are still a formidable team. You only need to look at the goals they've scored. They've been conceded. Like I said earlier, you're trying to find the balance with those changes.

“It's a top team, it's a top club that's set up to challenge the very elite of modern football. You see that within the stadium, you see it within the quality of the squad. So yes, it's still a big challenge and they'll be looking to go far in this competition.”