MX23RW : Thursday, November 28 21:57:22| >> :120:35529:35529:
[monks data]
Attendance: 58,000
Celtic logo
Europa League | Group Stage
Dec 13, 2018 at 8pm UK
 
Red Bull Salzburg

1-2

Ntcham (90')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Dabbur (67'), Gulbrandsen (78')

We won’t be playing for a draw, insists Celtic’s Benkovic

We won’t be playing for a draw, insists Celtic’s Benkovic
© Reuters
Brendan Rodgers’ side would qualify with a point.

Filip Benkovic insists Celtic will be going all out for the win against Salzburg on Thursday night despite a draw being enough to reach the knockout stages of the Europa League.

The Austrian side have won all five Group B matches, including a 3-1 home win over the Scottish champions in October, and are already qualified as section winners.

The Parkhead outfit need a point in the final fixture to make sure they join Marco Rose’s side in the last-32 but defender Benkovic, on loan from Leicester City, insists Brendan Rodgers’ men can only play for three.

The 21-year-old: “We are a team who plays attacking football most of the time so we will do the same in this game as well. It’s not good to only go for a point.

“This is not our mentality. We want to take three points. For 90 minutes, we must be behind each other.

“We know how they are a good team with good players. We must focus more than 100 per cent for this game and we must believe that we can take a positive result.

“They are doing very well this season and in the Europa League too.

“Their results are down to their team spirit and they play very well like a team. We must play for each other and stay behind each other for the full 90 minutes.

“We’ll need to be patient and believe that we can get a good result.”

Rose warned Celtic that they will have to work for their last-32 qualification slot.

He said: “Obviously Celtic will have more supporters than the last game in Salzburg but that is what we are looking forward to, the atmosphere.

“It is clear that Celtic need a point but we want to play a good game so Celtic have to earn that point because we will give everything.

“We have reached our most important goal already, we have advanced to the knockout stages.

“We are first place but it is not all about the fact of winning six games, we want to be part of a great game.”

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '9038e304-c0c4-4b0a-949b-19ffb3fe5629');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'We won\u2019t be playing for a draw, insists Celtic\u2019s Benkovic'});

ID:344078: cacheID:344078:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4395:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League Phase

TeamPWDLPTS
1Lazio541013
2Frankfurt541013
3Anderlecht532011
4Galatasaray532011
5Lyon531110
6Ajax531110
7Rangers531110
8Spurs43019
9Ferencvaros53029
10Man Utd52309
11FCSB43019
12Plzen52309
13Olympiacos42117
14Real Sociedad52127
15AZ52127
16Bodo/Glimt52127
17Midtjylland52127
18Besiktas52036
19Porto51225
20Roma41215
21Hoffenheim41215
22Fenerbahce41215
23Braga41124
24Elfsborg51134
25Slavia Prague41124
26PAOK51134
27Malmo51043
28FC Twente40313
29M. Tel Aviv51043
30Qarabag51043
31Union SG40222
32Ludogorets50232
33RFS50232
34Nice50232
35Athletic Club00000
36Dynamo Kiev50050


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!