CALLUM McGREGOR insists Celtic must BELIEVE they can beat Bayern Munich when they square up to the Bundesliga giants in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at a sell-out Parkhead on Wednesday evening.
The Hoops have been dismissed by many before a ball has even been kicked against Harry Kane and Co.
However, defiant skipper McGregor reckons no-one should write off Brendan Rodgers’ side as they prepare to give it their best shot to gatecrash the cash riches of the last-16 knock-out stages of Europe’s most prestigious competition.
INSPIRATIONAL…Callum McGregor offers words of encouragement for his team-mates.
The Germans arrive as their country’s league pacesetters with an eight-point lead after the 3-0 win over Werder Bremen with Kane claiming a double to hoist his goal tally to 28 in another prolific campaign.
With the second leg scheduled for the Allianz Arena a week tomorrow, McGregor focused on the midweek collision and said: “I think if we have any idea of progressing out the tie then we have to win. That’s obvious.
“You know it’ll be a tough game over there, so we have to carry something into the away game. Yeah, in my opinion, we have to win.
“Of course we have to believe. If we don’t believe it, then no-one else in the stadium is going to.
“Our performance is to bring belief to the stadium and start the game and, hopefully, we start on a positive foot and try and do the things that we want to do.
“At that point, the stadium grows in belief and then one or two things might happen in the game and, all of a sudden, everyone’s got this feeling that it could be a special night.
THE WAY AHEAD…Callum McGregor directs the traffic in the middle of the park.
“First and foremost, though, we want to do ourselves justice, we want to bring our football to the game. The only way we’re going to beat them is by being aggressive and being us.
“So, we’re not going to all of a sudden go 5-4-1 and start smashing it long, that’s not us.
“We have to be true to what we want to do and if we do that, then I think we have the team and the profile to cause anyone problems.
“It’s then just marrying it up on the night and carrying a bit of luck as well, which we’re going to need.”
Celtic complete the hat-trick against Bayern as the third Bundesliga a side they have faced in the current European adventure.
They were decimated 7-1 in Dortmund in October, but responded in excellent fashion the following month by overcoming RB Leipzig 3-1 in another special night under the lights in the east end of Glasgow.
McGregor reckons having the first leg in Paradise can offer Rodgers’ side an edge and the 31-year-old influential midfielder, speaking to the Daily Record, added: “It’s a big, big task and I’m talking as if I believe we can win, which of course I do, but I’m also not silly.
“We’re playing against one of the best teams in the world, so to have the first game here and we give everything that we’ve got, let’s see if we can take a lead into the away leg.
“Any game here, the crowd get involved and it’s a special atmosphere, it’s a special stadium, and even more so on European nights, against the biggest of teams.
“We want to give a performance that makes everyone proud and we’ll see where we are after that.”
