CLUB Brugge manager Nicky Hayen is convinced the visitors can silence Parkhead when they play Celtic in the Champions League tomorrow evening – if they embrace the intimidating atmosphere the home supporters will generate.
The Belgian champions defeated Sturm Graz 1-0 in the Worthersee Stadium in Austria in their second league phase game and then gave AC Milan a serious scare in the San Siro in Italy in their next outing before being reduced to 10 men and losing 3-1.
Hayen, who was Arne Engels’ coach when the midfielder was a youngster at Club NXT, the Brugge academy side, is confident his charges can pick up all three points against Brendan Rodgers’ team.
However, he has acknowledged they will have to block out the noise the 58,000-strong crowd will make to replicate their previous displays on the road and come out on top.
"I think the first 35 minutes were really good in Milan,” he said. "Unfortunately, we got a red card and that changed the picture of the game. But that match was a good preparation for this game.
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"We know the atmosphere is really amazing here and this is something that we have to embrace. You can't fight against it and this is not what we want to do. "Every footballer who wants to play football at the highest level wants to play in this kind of atmosphere. If there are 60,000 people or 5,000 people, for us it doesn't matter. You just have to perform on the pitch.
“We did that in Milan, but we also did that in the games we played at home against Aston Villa and Dortmund [they beat the English side 1-0 earlier this month and lost 3-0 to the Germans in their opening fixture back in September].
“Those performances were also a very good level. And this is the level that we have to perform at every single time. When you perform on that level, whatever competition it is in, then you can have a good result.
“I heard from people around the club hat the expectations here are really big, that the atmosphere will be crazy and that they are waiting for us. But, like I said, these are the games that you want to play as a player. We just have to stay calm, embrace those kind of feelings and perform on the pitch.”
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Mechele said: "As long as we give it our best, we can do great things. It will be a difficult night and we have to be there to support each other and help each other in the difficult moments. Then if we can create and play our own game, then we can do something special. "I think that the level we showed against Aston Villa will be the level at least that we have to bring against Celtic, maybe even more. We have to give our best, and then we will see what we can get."
“It is my job to stop the attackers of Celtic. That's my first concern. And if I do my job well, then we have at least one point. That's what we must do."
