Laughs for Bayern

The Celtic squad looked amazingly relaxed as they trained at Lennoxtown today ahead of facing Bayern Munich.

Brendan Rodgers seemed to lead the way as he prepared for the second meeting with the German giants in 14 days.

There wasn’t much to laugh about in the Allianz Arena but rather than retreat and park the bus Rodgers clearly has a plan to get his players on the front foot and test Bayern.

Exactly a year ago Celtic were given little hope when they travelled to Monchengladbach just after a 2-0 home defeat with the managers belief reflected on the park as the hoops earned a 1-1 draw.

A similar performance and result tomorrow night would go down very well tomorrow night with a few of the hoops squad having extra reasons to be happy today.

This morning Moussa Dembele was called up into the French international squad for the first time while Kieran Tierney was given a significant pay rise and signed a new contract keeping him at Celtic until 2023.

By 9.40pm we’ll all know if the relaxed approach paid off but it certainly looks like the bhoys will be going into the game stress free.

Caption Time

This one really is open to question, perhaps Rodgers was asking KT if he had missed a good night out at the Wishaw Emerald 50th Anniversary bash.

In Tierney Rodgers has found the ideal player to work with and develop with the defender aware that his career is in the best possible hands.

The Champions League has developed Tierney from potential into reality, an awful lot happened during that explosive 3-3 draw with Manchester City a year ago with the benefits being seen on a game by game basis.

Meeting the media

After all the fun of training at Lennoxtown it was time for Rodgers to meet the media at the UEFA staged conference.

The Irishman revels under the spotlight, enjoying the place that he has taken Celtic to and responding to a media pack that feel that he would be better off elsewhere, preferably in England.

Behind the smiles and respect for Bayern there is a serious message to be delivered with Rodgers determined that his side put on a much better performance than they managed a fortnight ago in Germany.

Griffiths hits the bottle

Leigh Griffiths seems to be coping quite well with Moussa Dembele getting the striking role to play against Bayern.

The former Hibs man scored at home to Kilmarnock on Saturday but has had a relatively lean time in front of goal.

Griffiths did his job where it mattered- away to Anderlecht timing his run perfectly to meet Kieran Tierney’s cross to set up a memorable away day win that looks like providing a post Christmas European place in the Europa League.

Feeling the pressure

Brendan really doesn’t seem to have a care in the world as he puts his players through their paces.

A 62 match unbeaten domestic run tends to generate confidence but along the way there have been more than a few Champions League set-backs.

The manager has a plan, he is looking for continuous improvement and on the basis of the performance away to Anderlecht he is getting exactly that.

Captain stressed out

It looks like Scott Brown is trying to recruit Jonny Hayes to join up with the golden bibs.

Some of his team-mates may have been dressed for Siberia but whatever the weather the Celtic skipper won’t be seen in anything more than a t-shirt, he’s a Fifer, Ken.

There really didn’t seem to be a care in the world as the squad prepared to face Bayern, or maybe it was just a front as they get ready to go head to head with a club that rarely fall short of the Champions League semi-finals.