One player that the Hoops could be facing is someone that the Celtic manager is very familiar with.

Belgian midfielder, Youri Tielemans is a key figure in the Aston Villa midfield, and it was Brendan Rodgers who brought the player to England when he signed him for Leicester City back in 2019.

“Youri was absolutely brilliant for me,” explained the Hoops boss. “He was a young player that we spent a lot of money on, bringing him to Leicester, and I’m so pleased to see how he’s done here.

“You have certain players in your squad, and he’d be very much like Callum for me, where he was a coach on the pitch for me. His view of the game was absolutely first-class, even as a really young player.

“He’s just a really top player in his mentality and attitude, and then we were really lucky to share a special moment in winning the FA Cup for Leicester for the first time, when he scored a brilliant goal.

“When I see him now he’s very much a leader on the pitch for Aston Villa, how he plays the game, how he organises the players around him. He’s a really good guy who’s a top professional.”

The current league phase standings in the UEFA Champions League, sees Celtic in 18th, facing an Aston Villa side currently ninth in the table.

And regardless of the fact that both teams will be progressing to the next stage of the competition, the only focus for Brendan Rodgers and his counterpart will be on winning the match on Wednesday night.

“We set out to win the game,” the Hoops boss said. “There will be moments when we have to adapt in the game to their qualities in how we defend.

“But certainly, when we have the ball we want to be able to play well because the better we are in attack, the less you have to defend in the game.

'So, for us, it’s always about the balance in our game. We set out to go out and win the game and we’ll look to attack the game.'

“As I said, our job is done in terms of getting into the top 24 but it’s certainly not complete and this is the last of the group-stage games and we come here – it’s a beautiful pitch, it’s a great arena, so we want to come and play to the best level that we can.”

Brendan Rodgers explained that Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss the game against Aston Villa, although he is set to return for the weekend, while Daizen Maeda is suspended.

The Celtic manager also confirmed that Alex Valle’s loan spell at the club has come to an end, with the defender returning to Barcelona.

The manager’s media conference

Update on squad for UCL game
Challenges that Aston Villa present
Kieran Tierney latest
Transfer window update

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The manager’s media conference

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Brendan Rodgers: We'll set out to win the game against Aston Villa