GREG TAYLOR insists Celtic will treat Livingston on Sunday as they will Real Madrid on Wednesday.
There will be stark and glaring differences between the venues with the Tony Macaroni possessing its notorious plastic pitch and the world-renowned Bernabeu with its splendour and lush playing surface, but the aim remains the same for the visitors – victory.
The Hoops toppled out of Europe during the week following their 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk at Parkhead which left them with two points from a possible 15 to even miss out on the consolation of the Europa League.
TAYLOR TRIUMPHANT…left-back Greg Taylor races away in delight after leaving Hearts keeper Craig Gordon grounded with his first-ever league goal for Celtic = last week’s winner at Tynecastle.
The curtain comes down on the Champions League adventure for another year with the midweek meeting against Carlo Ancelotti’s reigning European Kings in the Spanish capital.
Taylor, the team’s unlikely matchwinner in the dramatic and VAR-interrupted 4-3 triumph over Hearts at Tynecastle last weekend, is adamant the champions will once again go at full throttle and said: “The badge demands it. It is as simple as that.
“Every game is big at a club this size and Sunday is no different because Livingston away is a difficult game. It is a game we will approach in the same way we do every game, treating our opposition with the utmost respect and aiming to put on a performance.
“You will see the fans when we go to Livingston. It will be like a home game for us and they will be cheering us on from minute one until 90. With the way that Europe has fallen for us this year, we want to give them something to cheer about domestically.
THUMB’S UP…Greg Taylor prepares for training with a positive outloook.
“Livingston have shown throughout their time in the Premiership that they have got a good way of playing and they stick to it whilst all playing for each other.
“So, we all know it is going to be difficult, but it’s a game a lot of us now have experience of and, when you get experience of occasions, domestic or Champions League, it does help.”
Taylor, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “If we can reach the levels we have reached in the Champions League, we will be pretty alright in the domestic games because the level needed is really, really high.
“It is the best competition in the world, but Sunday is now the big one.
“Livingston has been a tough place to go throughout the years and they will be wanting to get a result.
“Equally, we want to do more than get a result, we also want to put on a performance for the fans.”
