The first Europa League group stage game between Celtic and Bayer Leverkusen did not go as Ange Postecoglou’s side would have hoped for. The Hoops certainly had their chances to score on the night but could not take them. On the other end of the pitch, the Bundesliga giants just proved to be too good and ultimately walked out of Parkhead with a convincing 4-0 win.

A lot has changed since then though. Celtic are in the middle of a good run of form at the moment, having won eight of their previous nine games across all competitions. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen have had a number of injury problems and have naturally not been at their best in recent times.

But even then, Celtic have a mountain to climb if they are to get a result against Bayer Leverkusen. But it looks like they will be going into the game with the aim of taking it to the Bundesliga giants.

As reported by Sky Sports, Postecoglou said:

“We can go and be conservative, try and hold on, try and survive, but if we do that we’ll learn nothing. All you learn is that you’re inferior and you don’t believe you can be any better.

“The only way we’ll learn anything in this game is if we go out there and take the game to them. That may be a painful lesson for us all but ultimately it’s a better way for us to find out.

“It may not be a painful lesson, it may show that we’re making a hell of a lot of progress. I’d rather go there and find out about ourselves than just go there and try to survive.”

Celtic appear to be heading into the Bayer Leverkusen game with the intention of winning

Celtic will know heading into the game against Bayer Leverkusen that they will need a result to keep their knockout phase hopes alive if Real Betis end up beating Ferencvaros in the other game.

It remains to be seen how things turn out result-wise. But in terms of intention, it looks like Celtic will be going in with the intention of getting a win.

Postecoglou has never made it a secret how he wants his side to play and it does not appear that he will be changing that approach, even when they face a team like Bayer Leverkusen.

A win or even a draw would be a huge result for Celtic but it is safe to say that they will have to be on their best if they are get that.

This article was originally posted here