Literary debut for Larsson

After FC Barcelona were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Celtic FC two weeks ago, Patrick Kluivert decided to put his career as a uefa.com writer on ice. However, Celtic's Swedish striker Henrik Larsson has stepped into the breach, and is looking forward to the home leg of his side's quarter-final against Villarreal CF.

By Henrik Larsson

If we are to be successful against Villarreal in the UEFA Cup we will have to draw on our sense of team spirit and willingness to work for each other. At Celtic we do not have a Diego Maradona or a Pelé so we have to play as a unit. We have high-quality players who are prepared to make the pass if a team-mate is in a better position or make the run to give a team-mate options.

Telepathic connection
To be honest, that is the way football should be played. Even if you have a Pelé or a Maradona they need players around them who can work with them. This Celtic side has been around long enough that we know each other pretty well and mostly know what the other guy is going to do.

Fearless approach
Of course, Villarreal is going to be a difficult game, we're under no illusions about that. It might seem like bad luck that we beat Barcelona and then were drawn against another top Spanish side, but that's fine by us. The further you go in any competition the harder the opposition and we're not a team who will duck any challenge. I'll tell you after the two games whether we learned anything from beating Barcelona.

Facing the best
Footballers always say you have to play the top teams at some point and it's true. You don't gain anything by saying I wish we hadn't drawn such and such a team. In any case, you want to face the best and put yourself to the test. Obviously it's important that we don't concede goals at home but we also need to score, so we'll have to look to go forward.

All together now
You have to have a belief in your club and the group of players around you, and that's what we have at Celtic. We trust each other to get on with the job. There is a great spirit. We win together and we lose together. I think that will be crucial again over these games.

Kennedy laid low
On a different subject, it's very sad to hear about the knee injury sustained by my team-mate John Kennedy. It's a tough time for the lad to have suffered such a serious setback. He was getting a good run in the side and had made his debut for Scotland. It is amazing how bad injuries seem to come along at the worst time.

Patient patient
As I learned when I broke my leg, the important thing for John is to take things slowly. It can get frustrating as you make slow progress getting back to fitness, but there is no alternative. Try to rush these things and you can set yourself back a long way.

Henrik Larsson's personal website is at www.icons.com