Bodø/Glimt’s European adventure got another chapter when the team clinched a massive victory at Celtic Park last week.
In the press conference leading up to Thursday’s second leg match against the Scottish big club in Aspmera, Glimt coach, Kjetil Knutsen, would like to say something about the weather:
– First of all, I would say that it will be snowy, cold and windy. Both me and the journalists should be prepared for that.
Knutsen describes the weather as “cruel” for Scottish journalists.
– Playing football in Bodo in February is something special for many, but it is normal for us, he said.
This isn’t the first time a big club has come to Aspmyra’s wife. In October, Glimt shocked European football when he crushed Roma at home 6-1.
When asked if the Celtic match would be even bigger, Knutsen answered as follows:
I will remember the match at home against Roma for the rest of my life. It was a great match. We love to play matches in Europe. The most interesting thing about these battles is what you learn from them.
Knutsen also wants to win 3-1 in Glasgow.
– The last match we played in front of 60,000 spectators was a great experience. It is important to learn from him. We’re doing well, but we have to be aware of what’s up against us. “We are more prepared now than we were in the first game,” says Knutsen.
He answers what makes Bodø/Glimt able to reset after Celtic’s first game:
– It’s our culture. Our focus on achievement and development helps us in such battles. We never talk about games that are beyond what we can learn from them. It does something at our entrance mentally in terms of being able to reset.
Practice on artificial turf – unlike Celtic
The match will be between two attacking teams, says Knutsen.
The important thing in facing this team is to defend themselves intelligently. They want us to open the halls, and in the previous game I felt like we defended really well, but we wasted a lot of space in the end, says Knutsen.
Celtic plays good attacking football and is demanding to defend against it. “We did really well in the first match,” says Marius Hubraten.
Get his team ready for the match on the surface you’ll be playing on.
We recovered on artificial turf, and trained a completely normal week towards this match, says Knutsen.
However, Celtic did not prepare for Aspmyra’s synthetic turf, choosing to refuse training at Glimt’s home grounds. Celtics coach Ange Postecoglou frowns at claims that it could be wrong.
– We didn’t feel it. We have played three matches on artificial turf already this year. For me, there are new challenges every week. Training on artificial turf before the game would not be a miracle for us. You are on the wrong path. I’ve been into soccer for a long time, and it’s all about dealing with the weather, rough pitches, and slippery pitches. Players must always be ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead. The coach said earlier on Wednesday that training at Bodo before the match had not changed anything.
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