Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has urged his players to embrace the challenge of reproducing their recent form against Borussia Dortmund in Signal Iduna Park.
A 6-0 win over St Johnstone on Saturday made it 17 wins in a row for Celtic, who have netted 33 goals in nine matches this season, including five against Slovan Bratislava in their Champions League opener.
They now go from facing debutants at this level to last season’s runners-up, but Rodgers just wants his players to do themselves justice and leave everything out on the pitch.
“We got off to a very good start so we come here to a stadium very much like Celtic Park in terms of it breathes football and we are all excited by the challenge,” he said.
“It’s looking to bring our game to the next level. The way we have been performing over the last six or seven months has just been increasing and now we come to this level.
“We are under no illusions, we are playing against a team who are challenging at the very top end of elite football. But I have always said, whether it’s domestically or coming away in this competition, it’s about making us a really difficult team to play against, with and without the ball.
“I’m not looking for perfection, I’m just looking for us to be really, really difficult to play against, to give everything you have and bring our game, which is to press, to fight, to run.
“We know at times their 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.”
Rodgers refined his team’s pressing game over the summer and they put four goals past both Manchester City and Chelsea in friendlies.
“We arrive in a great place,” he said. “I track it back to pre-season, we built our pre-season up and played some big teams and were able to look at certain aspects of how we want to play at this level. I was very, very pleased with what I had seen and that has continued right the way through.
“I think this level is as much about the head as it is about skill. I think this is bringing a mentality to this level and I think that’s what I’m looking forward to seeing. Bringing that quality that we show domestically and being able to take it out into this amazing arena and playing with that confidence.
“It’s something that you have to cherish and live. Sometimes that’s difficult when you’re playing because you’re so focused on the game. But we play for the dreams of the supporters who are travelling out here in their thousands and we play for ourselves to go and enjoy this experience.
“It’s a wonderful arena, go and embrace it. Go and cherish these big games and let’s see where it takes us.
“If we’ve given everything and we play with the spirit that we have done and you don’t quite get the result, then as long as you’ve run and fought and played and pressed and attacked, then you can do no more than that. The game is about levels and about tiers. And for us, I’m just interested to see us competing at this level.”
Rodgers is going head to head with his former Liverpool player, Nuri Sahin, who stressed his respect for the Celtic boss earlier after being reminded about 10-year-old quotes expressing frustration at being played out of position while at Anfield.
Rodgers praised the professionalism of Sahin, who struggled to displace Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson from his preferred role.
He added: “It’ll be really good to see him when he’s making his first steps as a manager. He’ll now know the challenges when you manage and all the various things that come up with being a manager.”