Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

Brendan Rodgers has challenged his Celtic side to reach new Champions League heights against Borussia Dortmund.

The Hoops boss will face last season’s beaten finalists without Cameron Carter-Vickers after the defender didn’t travel due to a foot problem. But Rodgers insisted his men have a chance to prove they can cut it at the top level in front of the famous Yellow Wall at the Signal Iduna Park. Celtic have been running amok in Scotland and stuffed Slovan Bratislava in their Champions League opener



But Rodgers admitted this is the acid test and he is confidence his side can raise their game. 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



Rodgers admitted losing Carter-Vickers for another Champions League clash was a major blow. But he’s looking for others to step up to fill the void left by the influential centre back.

Rodgers said: “Clearly he's a top class player for us. He's missed a little bit of Champions League football in his time. Five of the 12 games that the club has played, he's unfortunately not been able to play in. But yes, we've got other players. It's always an opportunity for someone else to come in and hopefully we can get Cam back sooner rather than later.





But like I say, we can't overthink it. We will rely on a collective. There's not one player that brings our results and how we've been this season. Of course he's a very important player, Cam. But for us to get a result, it will be by the collective.”

Dortmund have been a mixed bag this season on the back of last term’s run to the final, where they went down to Real Madrid. But Rodgers still rates the German big guns as top drawer and said: “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.