Rodgers wary of Bayern "bounce"

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is wary of a Bayern Munich "bounce" following the appointment of Jupp Heynckes.

The German champions appointed their Champions League-winning former head coach Heynckes as their manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti on 28 September.

The 72-year-old has coached Bayern three times before, with his last spell ending in 2013 with a Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup treble.

And Rodgers was impressed by Bayern's performance during Heynckes' first game in charge, Saturday's 5-0 home win over Freiburg.

"They've changed their management and it's given them a little bounce effect," Rodgers said ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Group B game at the Allianz Arena, live on eir Sport 2 [kick off 7.45pm].

"You always look at players and how hard they work and how they press and certainly in Saturday's game Bayern Munich's counter press went to a different level to what they had been.

"So that is something that we will have to cope with.

"Obviously the new manager is someone who is respected throughout the club and a lot of players here know him very well, they know how he works.

"Sometimes you get that effect. How long it lasts, time will tell."

Bhoys' centre-back Jozo Simunovic misses the match with a hamstring injury, so Mikael Lustig is likely to move inside with Crisitian Gamboa coming in at right-back.

Captain Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong are both fit and likely to play against the German giants, who are level on points with Celtic with three points from two games.

"We need to go into the game full of confidence and belief that we can get a win," Celtic forward Scott Sinclair said.

"The crowd won't faze us. We're used to playing in front of 60,000 every week.

"There's so many things we've learned since the [5-0] loss to Paris St-Germain. We need to be more compact. I wouldn't say fear is the right word but we put too much pressure on ourselves because we wanted to do so well and sometimes you can try a little too hard.

"It's all about being relaxed as players, getting the ball down and creating chances."

You can watch all of Celtic's Champions League campaign on the eir Sport package. Brendan Rodgers' side face German champions Bayern Munich, Anderlecht of Belgium and French giants Paris Saint-Germain in Group B. The Hoops' game against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, 18 October is live on eir Sport 2 [kick-of 7.45pm]

Photo Getty Images/ Mark Runnacles

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