Celtic assistant manager John Kennedy has reminded the players to focus on performances and ignore the pressure over points.
The cinch Premiership champions were briefly 10 points ahead of Rangers but that was cut to five points, with the Light Blues still holding a game in hand, following last weekend’s defeat by Kilmarnock.
Kennedy feels Celtic are far better served focusing on their game ahead of Saturday’s visit of Hearts rather than obsessing over capitalising on Rangers’ Viaplay Cup final commitments.
Kennedy said: “The thing for us is just to concentrate on performances, not get drawn into ‘you must win every game’ and the pressure.
“We don’t want to get too caught up in ‘what is the gap now?’ and ‘we need the points’.
“We need to concentrate on what makes us a good side because when we come away from that and we start thinking too much, that’s when things slow down, that’s when you start second-guessing yourself.
“So for us it’s full committal to the way we play. We know if we do that properly, more often than not that brings the points, which obviously gives you the lead we are sitting with now.”
The Celtic coaching staff have reinforced the key principles of their game in the wake of their 2-1 defeat at Rugby Park.
“It’s the same process as when you win a game,” Kennedy said. “There’s maybe the added pressure if someone is listening to what’s going on in the press, the media or fans and everything else.
“But ultimately when we get them in this building we can control the message, which is very much about ‘this is what we did well’ and ‘this is what we certainly didn’t do well’.
“Second half last week, we have addressed that. That’s an example of Kilmarnock putting a bit more pressure on us and coming totally away from the way we play. We end up in a game where the ball spent more time in the air than it did on the ground, and that’s not how we play.
“We lost control of the game because we came away from how we play, and Kilmarnock had a bit of pressure, but we know we can still handle that.
“We showed them examples of Atletico Madrid pressing us at Celtic Park and playing through it no problem, there were examples the other night, a very good side pressing, you play through that and created chances.
“It’s all in the mind in terms of that respect, and the players have embraced that and taken it on board.
“Hopefully, going forward, we can be really strong in how we play and our convictions in that.”
Celtic have since bounced back with a Champions League win over Feyenoord and have the added bonus of Daizen Maeda and Cameron Carter-Vickers returning from injury. Maeda has been out for six weeks with a knee problem and his absence has been felt.
“We want to be as fast and keep the intensity of the game as much as we can, and Daizen triggers a lot of that for us,” Kennedy said. “He shuts down the times teams get to set up attacks, even if a team want to play direct, he can get to the ball without them being able to play accurate long balls.
“But on the flip side, he attacks the back line and penetrates any sort of space the opposition leave.
“So having speed in our team is really important and when he’s not there you recognise that, you sometimes lack in certain areas of the game.
“It’s good to have him back. To be fair, he’s an absolute machine. He wanted to be involved before now but we had to put the reins on him a touch because he still had a bit of an injury there.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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