There was one passage of play from Paris Saint Germain last night that left John Collins drooling.
For two seasons the former hoops midfielder assisted Ronny Deila as the Norwegian attempted to develop a different style of play.
Brendan Rodgers has imposed his own way of playing but while you can adopt a philosophy it takes top class operators to carry out those plans.
While most attention was on the PSG strike force Collins was taken aback by the quality of defenders selected by Unai Emery.
La sortie de balle parfaite #CELPSG pic.twitter.com/iTcd01iCud
— Anthony Woodman (@Anton75_) September 12, 2017
“There were periods when Celtic tried to press them down but they have such good touch, first touch, movement and options,” Collins told TalkSPORT. “The calmness of their back four and the goalkeeper really struck me. There was zero stress, there was a period in the 13th minute when they were passing it in their own box, just sucking Celtic in and knocking it about. It was unbelievable.
“I was at the game with friends and my boy and it was a footballing master-class from start to finish. Total football, it was Barcelona of six years ago at their best. Celtic couldn’t get near them, it was a great learning curve, it was painful viewing but you have to admire the opposition.”
While Celtic try to take lessons on board for the match against Anderlecht in a fortnight PSG will get their first major test of the season when Bayern Munich visit the French capital.
Both clubs are expected to be involved in the cutting edge of the Champions League with PSG determined to make up for last season’s exit.
A 4-0 home win over Barcelona should have been enough but in the Camp Nou they caved in during the closing stages to lose 6-1.
Emery survived that defeat, with a £400m kitty he is now expected to deliver the trophy that has proved so far elusive.
