Celtic face Twente on Tuesday in their first-ever group-stage match in the Women's Champions League; Celtic will also face WSL winners Chelsea and Spanish giants Real Madrid in Group B; head coach Elena Sadiku says the team can play without pressure
Monday 7 October 2024 20:57, UK
Celtic head coach Elena Sadiku is ignoring the history of Tuesday's Women's Champions League opener against Twente to focus solely on the match.
Sadiku will become the youngest coach in the male or female version of the Champions League when she leads Celtic into the group stage for the first time, breaking the record set by Julian Nagelsmann with Hoffenheim in 2018.
It is also the first time any Scottish club has qualified for this stage of European women's football and as far as Celtic have ever gone in the competition.
"I don't know, maybe I'm crazy that I can just focus on what I need to focus on, but it's been very busy as well," Sadiku said. "It's always another game, it's always another game. Right now, I'm living in a wheel that is just keep going, keep going, keep going.
"I'm not thinking about what we have achieved and stuff. I am just focusing on how to make sure that I have a proper game plan."
Celtic will also face WSL winners Chelsea and Spanish giants Real Madrid in Group B's round-robin matches, while Twente are also newcomers to this stage of the competition.
Tuesday might represent the best chance for Celtic to pick up points but, as the lowest-ranked side in the competition, Sadiku believes they can play without pressure.
"This is the first time we experience Champions League in the group stage. There's no pressure on us. We want to do well; we want to show that we are a great team," she added.
"This is a different experience for us, and we should be excited. We should be fearless coming into this game as well."
Kelly Clark is no stranger to big games, having lifted the SWPL title as Celtic skipper on the final day of the season, as well as representing her country on four occasions.
She never thought she would play at this level and is relishing the chance to perform on the highest stage in Europe, although she admitted she is trying not to think about the game too much.
"Until [Tuesday] afternoon, I'm going to try and not think about it because the more you think about it, the more nervous or the more excited you get," Clark said. "I'll try and take my dog a walk and switch off and stuff like that.
"When the time is right, I'll make sure I switch on. The best preparation is to try and only focus on it once I get here [to the stadium] because too much thinking about it, you start questioning everything."
Clark's entire family are Celtic fans, and she admitted that makes it even sweeter that she will lead her team out - although her dad is in Lanzarote and will have to make do watching from the pub.
"I imagine there will be some tears. Some of my family aren't in the country. My dad is in Lanzarote and I'm genuinely surprised he's not paid for a flight home yet but apparently they're going to a pub who's going to show it for them," she added.
"I can't wait to go back to my phone afterwards and hear that he's embarrassed himself in front of the entire pub with his tears for 90 minutes.
"My mum and my partner they'll be in the crowd and it's a huge moment obviously personally, but it only means so much because of the relationship that I have with the club and the history that we have together."
Clark also revealed the squad have received a good luck message from Celtic legend Henrik Larsson, who has been keeping a special eye on his compatriot Sadiku's success.
"We got a congrats from Henrik [when we qualified], that's a really important one, and pretty cool."
Sadiku's dreams of ever playing in Europe's elite competition were ended by injury. Her playing career was over by just 23 after 13 surgeries on her knee.
Sadika suffered an ACL injury at 19 and three months after returning she did it again on the same knee. After it happened for a third time she turned to coaching.
She had spells as an assistant of sides in China, her native Sweden and Denmark before becoming a head coach in her own right.
The Swede quit as Everton U21 boss in January to take charge at Celtic, leading them to their first Scottish Women's Premier League title.
She has lost just once in the league since moving to Glasgow and that was in her opening game against 16-time league winners Glasgow City.
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