Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer has taken a look at what Celtic has to offer and the goalkeeper has come away with a lot of respect for the Scottish side ahead of the Champions League showdown between the two storied clubs.
“I think Celtic is a team that plays well together, they have an aggressive, good team. We have to break through the pressing, we have to try to play our attacking football. That starts with the build-up play, we have to be wide awake, that can cause a bit of nervousness in this atmosphere – we are prepared for that. Celtic don’t like to play against the ball, so we want to build up the attacking play as best as possible towards their box and create chances,” said Neuer (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “I’ve always played in a really attacking way and have an even higher position in possession than before. We’re a team that has a lot of possession, that looks to get numbers in the opposition half. We’ve always come up against teams that defend with a back five against us, that park the bus. We always need to deal with that. I think we’ve also made mistakes in the past but also a lot right. You can see that in how many goals we’ve scored.”
Facing Celtic will provide Neuer to square off with an old nemesis, Kasper Schmeichel.
“We often met and spoke together as goalkeepers. I’ve also met his father often during Champions League games. It’s a nice thing to face a goalkeeper of your age when you’re older,” Neuer joked.
Finally, Neuer was asked the inevitable question — what about the possibility of playing the Champions League finale at home in Munich? As expected, Neuer is not ready to even think much about that topic.
“That’s in the future. There’s a lot we need to do before then. It’s special to have the final in Munich again. Thomas and I are the only ones who played back then. It’s special for us, for all the employees who were here at the time as well. We’re excited. But we first need to get past Celtic, take things one step at a time,” Neuer remarked.
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