Shocking News: Matt O’Riley reacts as Celtic transfer confirmed
Celtic’s three red cards in last season’s UEFA Champions League were hammerblows to crucial away matches in the group stage.
Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm were both sent off in a 2-0 defeat against Feyenoord, while Daizen Maeda’s red in Spain against Atletico Madrid didn’t help in a heavy 6-0 loss.
Discipline will be critical when Celtic travel to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night. Players can’t afford to make a silly error or be suckered into picking up preventable cards.
Refereeing in European competitions is notoriously a little more card-happy than in Scotland it’s something the staff and players are speaking about this season.
Liam Scales urges teammates to be ‘careful’ in Dortmund
Defender Liam Scales says Brendan Rodgers brought it up ahead of the 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava, and it’ll be an even more important consideration on matchday two.
The Irishman said [Daily Record]: “He (Rodgers) would have spoken about it before the first game against Bratislava because it killed two fixtures for us, getting men sent off. Obviously, they were both difficult fixtures last season, but it is important.
Celtic’s Irish defender #05 Liam Scales (L) vies for the ball with Slovan Bratislava’s Slovakian forward #13 David Strelec during the UEFA Champion…
Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images
“You’ve seen the ref as well against Bratislava, in every Champions League game. You can’t really make a foul without picking up a yellow card, so we just need to be careful, but still be intense in our defending.
“It’s just something we need to look out for. It’s more defensively being solid, keeping 11 men on the pitch and not conceding easy goals.
“It’s obviously going to be really difficult and we’ll do very well to get a result, but we believe we can. We also need to go there with a bit of confidence that, if we play our game, we can go and win.”
Referee confirmed for Celtic vs Dortmund
Spaniard Jose Maria Sanchez will be in charge of Tuesday’s match, and, given his recent match record, Scales’ warning seems even more important.
He’s dished out a whopping 62 yellow cards in his last ten matches, as well as four red cards.
That’s not exactly encouraging anyone that he’ll allow the game in Dortmund to be a free-flowing affair.
Celtic will have to be on extra alert not to commit rash challenges or risk receiving cards almost by default when conceding a foul. Hopefully Rodgers is again reinforcing that message in the build-up.
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