Many people may have been surprised by the problems Celtic caused for Manchester City on Wednesday night as they earned a hard-fought draw, but not midfielder Nir Bitton.
After the humbling in Barcelona, there weren’t many who gave the Hoops a prayer against Pep Guardiola’s superstars, but Bitton was always sure that they could give them a game at Celtic Park.
It may now be bordering on a cliché for players to cite the atmosphere in the East End of Glasgow as a factor in spooking the opposition, but there is little doubt that the City players looked shell-shocked by the wall of noise they faced.
The Israeli believes that Celtic must use that to their full advantage if they are to have any chance of progression in Europe – either in the Champions League or the Europa League.
“We knew we had to maximise the points from our home games and then try to take something from the away legs as well,” Bitton said.
“The main thing for us is not to lose at Parkhead because this is our power base. But everyone knows we are in the strongest group in the competition so we need to make sure that we win as many points as possible.
“It was always going to be a different game than the one in Barcelona. Every team which comes to Celtic Park will know the power of this stadium and the power of these fans and we just need to do our job.
“It was a fine team performance on Wednesday and good to be a part of that. To play in front of 60,000 people who cheer you and push you on for 90 minutes is special.
“It was always going to be a different game than the one in Barcelona. Every team which comes to Celtic Park will know the power of this stadium and the power of these fans and we just need to do our job.
“Our fans make life difficult for the opposing team and everything we do they just appreciate it. That’s great for us.
“We want to make them proud and we want to make them happy and show them that we deserve their support.”
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