Strachan eager to ward off travel sickness

Brilliant on their own patch, Gordon Strachan knows Celtic FC must put "more thought" into their approach away from home in the UEFA Champions League as they prepare for their opener against Aalborg BK in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Absolute imperative
For Celtic, the absolute imperative is to somehow blend their brilliant record in Glasgow with a more competitive and slightly more mature playing style away from home. Their Group E travels take them to Villarreal CF's El Madrigal, Old Trafford – to face the champions of Europe – and the relative unknown of AaB's Aalborg Stadium. "There are great variations in this group, real differences in style of play," Strachan told uefa.com. "Manchester United [FC] are European champions, Villarreal have been magnificent for the past few years while the Danes are likely to be a more pragmatic side. Then you have us – there is something of the mongrel about us. We have everything in us in that Celtic can play it almost every way imaginable; nothing absolutely brilliant but we can play most styles of football."

Vibrant nights
Under Strachan, and his predecessor Martin O'Neill, Celtic have accounted for some great names on home soil during vibrant nights in the east of Glasgow. Olympique Lyonnais, AC Milan, Juventus and United themselves, the last time the two sides met, have all been sent away without a point, but Strachan accepts that his club's mysterious inability to register more than a single draw in 17 away UEFA Champions League matches is a terrible millstone.

System change
"You have to be more patient away from home – more thought must go into it," continued the Scotsman, who lifted the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1983 as an Aberdeen FC player under Sir Alex Ferguson. "We cannot play the same style of football that we do in the Scottish league. We have to change our system and because of that change you have to leave out some good players who normally play. You have to convince those players that what you are doing is for the bigger picture.

Better understanding
"Because of our signings this year and because of our practice in pre-season, I think we'll have a better understanding of what to do away from home," Strachan confirmed. "In pre-season, we played at Feyenoord and at [FC] Porto and changed the system while registering good results. That's unusual for us in pre-season – in fact it's unusual for us anywhere away from home. Maybe now, Celtic have the same ability at Parkhead but possess something different in order to get points away from home." Villarreal in Spain on 30 September should prove interesting.