How Celtic can beat PSG

Paris St Germain certainly won’t be Hamilton Accies or St Johnstone- they won’t even be Rosenborg or Astana.

On Tuesday night Celtic take on a side that are routinely in the knock out stages of the Champions League and usually there or thereabouts for the semi-finals. A bit like Bayern Munich.

Whether this season’s Champions League opponents are tougher than last year barely matters- on Tuesday night Brendan Rodgers will have to face up to a side with a £400m plus strike force with similar quality back-up.

With a makeshift back-four the task is much harder with memories still fresh of a back three going in against Barca last season with Cristian Gamboa making his debut in the Camp Nou.

Lessons have been learned with the clear message going out that Celtic won’t be standing off their opponents.

There may not be a Barry Robson type welcome on Christian Dailly but the French side will find a physical element to their opponents.

A lot will need to come right on the night but after last season’s turnaround the key phrase is ‘in Brendan we trust’.

This is the stage that the Irishman tests himself on, no Celtic side will be better briefed or go onto the park knowing exactly what is expected of them.

LET’S GET PHYSICAL

It’s not quite ‘get intae them’ territory, modern referees would blow a gasket at the first sign of an old fashioned industrial challenge on one of the poster boys but Celtic need to get physical- sensibly.

Olivier Ntcham looks like he can take care of himself, Scott Brown needs to show discipline while Kenny Miller will vouch for Jozo Simunovic in a 50-50 tackle.

There is no point chasing around like headless chicken but when the opportunity comes up Celtic have to let Neymar and friends know that they are in a fixture with a physical edge.

THE BACK DOOR

There has been a recent tendency to give away cheap goals as well as a very worrying spell against Astana.

With a £400m strike force Celtic can’t afford to give away any cheap goals, if we get out played and the defence is opened up by pace and skill there is little that can be done about that.

So far this season the centre of defence has been switching from game to game, at Hamilton on Friday Brendan Rodgers said that he already knew his team for the match, every minute together on the training ground has to be maximised.

TAKE OUR CHANCES

We did at home to Astana, further back in 2012 we took our chances at home to Barcelona to record a famous win.

There may only be two sights of goal tomorrow, one may be a set piece but we need maximum efficiency if we are are to take anything from Matchday One.

Leigh Griffiths can be hot or cold, usually at his best in the first half but with a habit of snatching at chances after the break.

It’s a team game and if a team mate is better placed there can be no glory hunters around if the Rodgers’ plan is to be executed.