“Pressing is part of YB and we don’t want to shake this DNA,” Giorgio Contini | OneFootball

Celtic’s Pressing Issue – “Pressing is part of YB and we don’t want to shake this DNA,” Giorgio Contini…

Coach Giorgio Contini, with former theRangers player Cedric Itten, YB, BSC Young Boys FC Winterthur, Super League, Football, 18 01 2025. Photo IMAGO.

Celtic will take on BSC Young Boys on Wednesday night in what is surely to be another potentially raucous match under the Paradise lights.

Having put themselves in a very reasonable position to qualify going into the last two games of the league phase in the new formatted competition, Brendan Rodgers and his team know that a win against the Swiss almost certainly guarantees passage into the knockout rounds.

Dazzling displays from Celtic

Dazzling displays against Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig have definitely been the high points so far and the unexpected point in Bergamo was definitely pleasing too – keeping a clean sheet against Italians is no mean feat. The Dortmund game was one to forget and the Club Brugge result was probably underwhelming if we’re being completely honest. It’s certainly been a mixed bag, that’s for sure.

So now it’s the team that sit stone dead last in the whole league that rock up at Celtic Park this midweek looking for some pride in what has been an embarrassing European campaign so far for the Champions of Switzerland.

Never something to take too lightly, a team which has nothing to lose can be a very dangerous animal. When the pressure is off, we’ve all seen teams ebb and flow like magic and produce performances that are spellbinding.

Liam Scales scores Celtic’s first goal during the UEFA Champions League  match between Celtic FC and SK Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park on September 18, 2024 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Coping with the BSC Young Boys press

What makes this even more precarious for Celtic is their recent inability to cope with teams when they press us high and get in our face. It has been abundantly clear for weeks now that this has been a clear and present danger to our dominance and it’s all of our own making.

Too many displays have had this facet entrenched in them now. The Premier Sports League Cup Final and the match at Ibrox are two that quickly spring to mind – but there have been others which is a concern.

Dundee and Kilmarnock have both done it too and we seemed to be startled in games where we had total control. Therein lies the danger for Wednesday night at home. If we are one up and have possession of the ball, all it takes is someone to fumble in that backline when Young Boys press us high and it could be disastrous, judging by our latest defensive issues against lesser opposition domestically.

Giogio Contini’s side will press Celtic high up the park

Young Boys boss, Giogio Contini, has confirmed that this is the way the team from Switzerland like to play and that pressing ability is in the club’s very foundations.

UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and SK Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park on September 18, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“That’s why we first have to rely on our strengths and boost our self-confidence with positive results,” he said as reported by Daily Record. “Pressing is part of YB and we don’t want to shake this DNA. We want to be a team that presses, that is good at counter-pressing and switching play. This game also suits the squad, which combines fast players and those with a lot of physical presence. We will certainly stick to that.”

A game Celtic should win

This game is one in which Celtic should win. However, with recent defensive issues and lapses occurring whenever we have been pressed high it causes a knot in the stomach.

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 match between Celtic FC and RB Leipzig at Celtic Park on November 05, 2024. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Contini will set his stall out accordingly and will no doubt have seen our recent foibles in domestic football. This game could be on a knife edge and that’s what makes it even more tantalising for the supporters. It’s all about getting it over the line and if we stay together and defend our duels well, we can just about begin to look to the knockout rounds.

100% needed from Celtic support

Big night ahead. 100% backing from the first kick of the ball to the last is needed from every single Celtic supporter inside Paradise.

COYBIG!

Paul Gillespie

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