Ronny Deila isn’t fooled by Molde lying in mid-table in the Norwegian League.
After a win in Fenerbahce and home draw with Ajax Molde will be confident of taking at least a point from Celtic having beaten Standard Liege over two legs to reach the Europa League.
Since leaving Stromsgodset 16 months ago Deila has enjoyed success in Scotland but has found European ties much tougher with Celtic losing two goals in each of their last four European matches.
A return to Norway on Thursday will provide Deila with familiar opponents with the Celtic boss well aware of how difficult the tie will be.
“Molde have been the best club in Norway for the last five years,” Deila stated. “Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went into the club and gave them a winning mentality. They have won a lot of trophies and have done things the right way.
“They have a good youth structure and have sold a lot of players abroad while developing others. They have also developed a winning culture.”
Deila added: “Last year was the best season in their history. It’s tough to do it again – everybody wants to beat them. They had a bad start, like they also had with Solskjaer after the third season but they have improved and done well in Europe.
“They are a team in progress and can cause problems in Europe as they have shown in their first two games.
“I’m not surprised – and I respect them for that. It shows that Norwegian football is going in the right direction. But I also know it is possible to beat them.”
Showing them respect they deserve,as we should do with any European opponent.
The results of the next two Europa Games will determine if we win this group or qualify for the next stage of the Competition.
Come on the Hoops
I am interested to see the tactics of the game. Against Ajax, Molde were pressed back for most the game and attacked in numbers with real pace when they got the chance. Late on in the game it was Molde that was the strongest and they could gave won the match as they hit the inside of the post. Molde looked very fit.
I wonder if Celtic will attack like Ajax did against Molde or if Celtic will park a bus and play counter football? If Celtic choose to attack it will be interesting to see how good our defense is against quick powerful breaks…..
I’d love to see *us* attack at pace. Instead, we pass the balls sideways and backwards to give plenty of time to organize their defense. Hell, a team of pensioners could get 10 walkers behind the ball by the time we start moving forward …
Respect