Elena Sadiku has challenged Celtic to play with “swagger” as they attempt to upset the odds to open their Champions League Group B account against Real Madrid.
The Scottish champions face the Liga F runners-up at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Thursday evening with both sides having lost their opening fixture.
Sadiku admits the hosts will be firm favourites but has agreed with keeper Kelsey Daugherty’s assessment of how they need to approach the game if they are to bounce back from Sunday’s 1-0 league defeat at Hearts and emerge with something to show for their efforts.
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The Swedish head coach said: “It was Kelsey who said that we need to show ‘swagger’. I don’t know if it’s a Scottish word but I think that we need to come with confidence as well because we are the champions of Scotland, we’ve done something really great.
“Obviously if you look away from the result this weekend, I think we’ve been doing well domestically.
“We need to know that we’re a great team and that’s something I want to see tomorrow.”
The Ghirls’ first foray into the group stage of the competition ended in a sobering 2-0 defeat by Dutch side FC Twente as Madrid went down 3-2 at Chelsea.
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Sadiku, however, believes, her team will be better prepared for the task they face in Spain for the experience of that bruising evening.
She said: “I feel against Twente as well, we were kind of underdogs but this is a bigger challenge when it comes to who we’re going to face.
“But I don’t think so much about underdogs or favourites or that situation, I just focus on looking at the game-plan and hoping to execute it as well as possible to get the best performance out of the players, but also to help get the points.”
For striker Amy Gallacher, there is the added incentive of coming up against fellow Scotland international Caroline Weir, back among the Madrid ranks after almost a year out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Gallacher said: “Personally, I looked up to Caroline Weir when I was young growing up playing football, so to play against her playing for Real Madrid, it’s a bit crazy. It’s just something I’m looking forward to.
“Obviously she’s a great attacking player for them. She creates goals, she scores goals, so obviously that’s something we want to stop during the game.
“She’s a massive player for them, so if we stop her, then we give ourselves a chance, so hopefully we can do that tomorrow.”
Asked what she admired about Weir as a youngster, the 25-year-old said: “Just the way she plays. Similar positions – I’m not going to compare myself to her – but obviously she’s someone I look up to and want to play like.”
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