Celtic star Liam Scales on facing Borussia Dortmund's famed Yellow Wall in Champions League tie
Ireland defender Liam Scales is in top form for Celtic this season and believes playing Rangers at Ibrox will help the Bhoys in this Champions League test
Liam Scales claims that great Parkhead nights - and trips to "hostile" Ibrox - have prepared Celtic to face Borussia Dortmund's fearsome 'Yellow Wall'.
Fresh from their 5-1 demolition of Slovan Bratislava in Glasgow a fortnight ago to kick-off their Champions League bid, Celtic face a much more formidable task against the tournament's losing finalists last season on Tuesday night.
But Wicklow's Scales, who has been in brilliant form at the heart of the Bhoys' defence in the early part of this season, is relishing the trip to Signal Iduna Park and a showdown with the Bundesliga outfit.
READ MORE:All you need to know about Borussia Dortmund ahead of Celtic visit
READ MORE: Adam Idah back on the scoresheet for Celtic in thumping win over St Johnstone
“It’s a great European stadium," said the Ireland international, who joined Celtic from Shamrock Rovers three years ago. "How many seats has it got? About 80,000 seats. That’s brilliant.
“That’ll probably be the biggest I’ll have played in and it means a lot. I’ll take it all in for that minute before the game. Then get down to business
“We have the same in Celtic Park. It can suffocate teams but we know what it’s like to play in an atmosphere like that.
“I think we’re well equipped based on what we’ve played in at Celtic Park and even going to Ibrox, that can be hostile, so we’re quite ready for that.
“For me, you get a minute before the game when the anthems are playing and you’re lining up and we’ll do the huddle. Then you can take in the atmosphere.
“But once the game starts it doesn’t really affect you as much as you think because you’re so focused on what’s going on on the pitch.
“I’ll take a minute while we’re lining up and coming out to take it all in because it’s obviously an amazing stadium and a great team, so I can’t wait. It’s something I usually do just to be calm going into the game.
“Just take a few deep breaths and then you’re ready. That would be something I’ve always done.”
Scales, 26, has been fully involved in the Celtic rearguard's six-game shutout of all-comers at the start of the domestic season and even got among the goalscorers in the rout of Slovan Bratislava.
However he insists that the Dortmund game wasn't on the agenda ahead of this week.
Scales explained: “Obviously Tuesday is a massive for us but we weren’t even thinking about that before this game (Saturday's 6-0 win over St Johnstone). This was a big game for us as well.
“We want to keep winning games and putting teams away and keeping clean sheets. For us, we’ve got everything to play for in the league. It’s not that difficult to get up for these games.
“Even though the Dortmund fixture might look like a bigger one and it’s maybe a bigger stage, this is the bread and butter and this is what we need to do well every week, so it’s massively important for us.”
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