One of the highlighting features of Celtic’s 1-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League first leg clash last week was Moussa Dembele’s impressive display.
The 21-year-old hasn’t enjoyed a great campaign this season, managing only nine goals in all competitions, but his return to form was a timely boost for Bhoys manager Brendan Rodgers.
Dembele, who reportedly earns around £25k-per-week, was heavily linked with a move away from Parkhead in the January transfer window, something that affected his form.
However, against the Russian outfit, he did a brilliant job, and played a part in building up the goal for Callum McGregor.
His club teammate, Olivier Ntcham is backing him to score in Russia in the second leg. Ntcham has hailed Dembele as a “great player”, but says that Celtic must put in a collective effort to score in the second leg.
“I hope Moussa can score in Russia. He was holding the ball up for us a lot in the first leg,” said Ntcham, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“When you are a defender, it must be difficult to play against a big, strong striker like him. He is a great player but it is not just down to him. We all must try to do things but he can always score, we know that.”
Brendan Rodgers was spot on with his tactics in the first leg. Celtic showed that attack can sometimes be the best form of defence. However, it is highly unlikely that they will follow the same tactics in Russia.
The former Liverpool manager could look to set up his team in a way that can hit them on the counter-attack, and Dembele will have to play a big part in it.
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