Mikael Lustig was part of the Sweden side that eked out a goal-less draw at the San Siro last Monday night to ensure Italy will miss the World Cup Finals for the first time in 60 years.
The Celtic defender, though, insists his club can’t try for a carbon copy of his country’s display when they meet Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital on Wednesday night.
Why? Because the Hoops play too much football!
“The commitment we defended with against Italy would absolutely be something to aim for, but we play such a different type of game with Celtic,” said Lustig.
“With Sweden, we had to get a result in Milan, and at times we had to get it up the park.
“The way we are playing at Celtic right now, however, we want to be part of something bigger.
“We want to develop as a team and players. It is not just about right now, it is also about next season and a couple of years down the line.
“That means trying to play really good football, no matter what the competition is or who the opposition are.
“Does it make it harder when you are playing against PSG in the Champions League?
“Of course. They have world-class players in every position.
“I think the first game (when PSG won 5-0 at Celtic Park) probably would have been as challenging a night as I have ever faced in football.
“I remember afterwards we were sitting in the locker room and saying: ‘What was that?’.
“I don’t think they had one bad touch in the game.
“I think we tried to press them, and it felt like, ‘OK, now we can win the ball’. But the quality they had that night was just unbelievable.
“It wasn’t just one or two of them, but all of them.
“If you name any player, I am going to say, ‘Yeah, what a game he had’ – Dani Alves, Mbappe, Neymar, who is so quick and so sharp. It goes on and on.
“So if they turn up with their A game on Wednesday night, it is going to be tough.
“But we want to prove we can play against them, and do better than we did at Celtic Park.”
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And if the 30-year-old has arguably the toughest task of his team-mates in having to line up directly against Brazilian superstar Neymar, he will go in with all the confidence of a man who has just achieved a career ambition.
“Going to the World Cup means everything to me,” said Lustig.
“I’ve been close a couple of times, but I knew this was my last opportunity.
“As a kid, and as a player through your career, it’s what you dream about. So to get there is amazing.”
He knows only too well, though, that great highs are all too often followed, in quick succession, by crushing lows.
“That’s football for us players,” he admitted.
“I will be happy that I’ve made it to the World Cup. But one bad game, and you feel rotten again.
“So as I have said, PSG could be a very tough night for us.
“This is a club which has everything it takes to win the Champions League.
“But there are a lot of big clubs out there.
“Manchester City look frightening at the moment, and Bayern Munich will get stronger and stronger too.”
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Lustig, meanwhile, has promised the Parc des Princes will see no repeat of his outburst witnessed just before kick-off in the San Siro last Monday.
Thousands watching live on television – and many, many more on the internet – witnessed the Celt shouting and swearing to his team-mates after the Swedish national anthem had been booed.
Then there was the over-the-top celebrations at the final whistle which saw the players interrupt Eurosport Sweden’s live pitch-side broadcast and demolish their studio.
“Things came out my mouth that I am not proud of,” said Lustig. “But there were so many emotions going through my head.
“It is hard for people who didn’t play in the game to understand exactly how it felt.
“It was the biggest game of my career, playing for my country, 90 minutes from a World Cup. So you’re not in your normal mind-set.
“It was probably the first time I’ve experienced our anthem being booed.
“But that is past now, and we have to be focussed for Paris because you can’t give PSG anything.”
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