As Celtic prepare to kick off their Champions League campaign against the Slovakian champions on Wednesday night, former Celt Lubo Moravcik says Slovan Bratislava will have to be ‘flawless’ to get something from the game.
Brendan Rodgers’ side are determined to make an impact on this year’s new-look tournament and will be hoping to capitalise on taking a home advantage into the first game.
Over 60,000 will watch captain Callum McGregor lead the Hoops out at Celtic Park for another crack at Europe’s elite competition, and Hoops legend Lubo has highlighted what he believes will be Slovan’s biggest threat.
"Celtic do not have a lot of tall players and Slovan Bratislava had a lot of good headers in their team,” he said (via RecordSport). “And Slovan need to work out if that is an area that Celtic may be vulnerable.
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“Celtic will be the favourites and Slovan must be flawless to take anything from the game. I was lucky enough to see Celtic's cup game against Hibernian live three weeks ago. Hibs had a lot of big players and I thought they would cause Celtic problems, but Celtic were too aggressive in attack for them.
“Celtic have Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi and they are both very fast. A tiny hesitation and they can take advantage of it. Celtic have a lot of very good technical players.
"It will be a great feeling for Slovan's players to run out in such a stadium with 60,000 fans there. They should enjoy it because it is a great experience for every player. Slovan's players must go into the match knowing they have to give their absolute maximum. They have to manage it physically and mentally at the same time.
“After all, the team is made up of experienced footballers and not young boys. Guys like Vladimir Weiss, Robert Mak, Guram Kashia and Juraj Kucka have all played enough football on big stages and are experienced enough to keep their emotions in check.
"But Slovan must prepare for the fact they won't be given a second's moment of peace on the ball. This will be an incredible experience for them. Perhaps they might surprise everyone and steal a point from Celtic....but it will be very, very difficult to do that."
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