The Slovakian champions are Celtic’ first opponents in the new-look Champions League format on Wednesday.
Celtic have been warned to be on alert for towering Slovan Bratislava by Hoops legend Lubo Moravcik.
The Slovakian champions are Celtic’s first opponents in the new-look Champions League format with Brendan Rodgers’ side desperate to get off to a good start in the competition. Hoops icon Moravciik has been a popular man in his homeland with his views on Parkhead’s legendary European nights being sought by their media. And he’s tipped off Celtic about what he believes is the biggest threat from Slovan.
He said: “Celtic do not have a lot of tall players and Slovan Bratislava had a lot of good headers in their team. And Slovan need to work out if that is an area that Celtic may be vulnerable. 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.
