Source: Team_Talk
We can batter Braga, claims Ki
Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-yueng claims Neil Lennon's Bhoys can "smash" Sporting Braga at Parkhead despite losing 3-0 in Portugal last week.[LNB] The South Korea international has warned Braga they are in for a shock when they face the atmosphere of a Champions League night at Celtic Park.[LNB]Ki's confidence mirrored the attitude of team-mate Gary Hooper, who had predicted a 4-0 victory for Celtic if they can get an early goal.[LNB]A controversial handball decision against the Korean allowed Osario Alan to put Braga ahead in the first leg of the third qualifying round tie and Celtic's hopes of making the play-off round suffered a huge blow when they conceded two late goals from set-pieces.[LNB]But the Celtic players have clearly not given up hope of turning the tie around tomorrow night.[LNB]"What we did in Portugal wasn't good enough and I gave away a silly penalty kick," Ki said. "But this (game) will be different because we'll have 60,000 people in front of us.[LNB]"If we play the way we just did in training, I think we can smash them."[LNB]Ki's bravado was fuelled by Celtic's displays in the Emirates Cup at the weekend, where they fought back for a 2-2 draw against Lyon before launching another less successful comeback in a 3-2 defeat by Arsenal.[LNB]"The cup gave all the players a lot of confidence," the 21-year-old said.[LNB]"We played one of the best teams in the world and we played a great game. It showed to everyone that we are good enough to beat Braga.[LNB]"It will be totally different to Portugal because they have never experienced the kind of fans at Celtic. The fans are really amazing.[LNB]"Every time we tackle, we will get the ball and attack in front of a lot of people. So I think they will be surprised and afraid."[LNB]Ki added: "They are quite skilful and the organisation of the team was good. But I don't think they are very powerful or fast."[LNB]While Celtic pushed Arsenal in the final quarter, their defensive fragility had already been exposed.[LNB]However, Ki believes Celtic will soon learn from the mistakes made in Portugal.[LNB]"It was the first game of the season," he said. "So we don't care about this, we will be much better than this throughout the season.[LNB]"We know we made mistakes but the game has gone.[LNB]"We can score a lot of goals. What we did against Lyon and Arsenal was really fantastic especially at the end of the game.[LNB]"It needs a lot of quality to score goals against the best defenders in the world. So I think the strikers will score a lot of goals tomorrow."
