revenge mission with added bite

Christopher Jullien is targeting revenge on Cluj this week. Picture: Alan Harvey/ SNS Group

The indigestible nature of the Champions League exit at home to the Romanian title holders seven weeks ago has made sure of that. No victory this week would make amends for the scatty 4-3 defeat that shut them out of continental competition’s top table for a second consecutive season. Anything short of a win, though, would represent bloodletting for the European ambitions of Neil Lennon’s men a second time around against the team from Transylvania.

Defensive disarray did for the Scottish champions when Cluj last visited Glasgow. Celtic have been unrecognisable since; never more so than when producing a disciplined and measured display to claim a 1-1 draw in Rennes on their first Group E outing a fortnight ago. The changes in Lennon’s backline personnel are central to that.

Christopher Jullien has emerged as a commanding presence in Celtic’s backline. There was furore that Lennon left the Frenchman on the bench for the Champions League third round decider despite the club splashing out £7m to recruit him from Toulouse. However, that call is one Lennon said this week he does not regret, while Jullien himself does not dispute it. In those early weeks of the campaign, as with the similarly benched and now integral Boli Bolingoli, the Frenchman struggled to assimilate.

“Of course, like every player, you don’t like to be left out,” said the 26-year-old. “It was the choice of the coach. In that moment he decided I was not ready and not fit enough. I told him I totally agreed with his decision and I’m sure the team he chose was the best to go out and compete. We came up short but we know what we have in front of us and I’m sure we are ready.”

Jullien does not seek to downplay the fact that some form of atonement will be firmly on the minds of the team Lennon sends out against opponents that provided further evidence of their attacking threat with a surprise 2-1 success over Lazio in their group opener.

‘They came to our house and beat us,” Jullien said. “Whenever a team comes here and does that it’s going to remain in the corner of our minds. They celebrated, they enjoyed their victory in our house and we were mad after that. For sure it’s going to be a revenge game. I’m sure the team is going to be focused. With them winning their first game so if we could beat them it would be good for us in terms of the group.”

There is no great mystery for Jullien as to why Celtic have been an altogether different team in the two months since their loss to Cluj.

“I think confidence has made all the difference. When you play the way we are now, winning a lot of games, you have that fighting spirit,” he said. “We are scoring a lot of goals, defending well and that is good for your mind. When you are good in your mind the players start to show their talent.”

Celtic’s French connection is exhibiting an array of talent; Jullien’s assured, Olivier Ntcham rejuvenated and Odsonne Eduoard unplayable. The centre-back says “yes, I think so” when asked if the 21-year-old possesses the facets to reach the levels of Paris Saint-Germain’s precocious striker Kylian Mbappe, the World Cup winner Jullien faced in the French league.

“I’ve played against a lot of strikers and I have definitely not met many who are complete like Odsonne,” he said. “He is quick, skilful and powerful. Sometimes when you are a defender the striker is always with you but Odsonne can go everywhere. He can drop deep, play a little bit with the midfielders and sometimes have contact with them.

“As a defender it can be hard when the striker is getting away from you, it’s like he disappears from you. Then he might come back, dribbling from another part of the field. It’s a really difficult.’