And last but not least the Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers gave his assessment in the media room at Villa Park on Wednesday evening after Celtic’s 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa in the final Champions League group stages match…

Here’s everything that Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers had to say in the media room after the 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa in the Champions League…

Q: What were your thoughts on the game?

Brendan Rodgers: “It’s a brilliant game to be involved in. The word that strikes me at the moment is pride. Coming to a team that over the last couple of years has been at the highest level in the Premier League, and obviously it’s the same in Europe. We played with so much courage in the game, we actually start well, we show confidence and authority with the ball, and then within a few minutes they get the first goal, a quick second goal.

“Then there’s a question asked of you as a team. Your spirit, your mentality, your character, everything about you at this level. The players continue to play. We started to get our aggression back in the game and make contact in our pressing, that gave us the opportunity. We scored two very good goals. I think overall, to take the game out to injury time with it in the balance was a great effort by the players. Obviously, you’re disappointed to lose, but we played a big part in a really good game.”

Q: It didn’t look like you were going to be able to take it to injury time right at the end of the match after that opening five minutes being 2-0 down. What we saw after that, I think it’s fair to say, was tangible evidence of the progress you guys as a team, as a club, made at this level this season. Would that be fair?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Yeah, absolutely. I think that was obviously objective, coming in and being really competitive at this level. I think at these eight games, we’ve built a really good foundation. You see what we need to do to build the squad, to really be able to sustain that challenge. Some of the young players haven’t played for Celtic before and have now been playing in the Champions League. Like I say, over the course of the eight games, we’ve qualified on that. We showed some great football along the way. Aston Villa hadn’t conceded a goal in their home games in the Champions League. So for us, we carried the threat right the way through the night. We’re really proud of the team. The supporters gave us a great backing. Just unfortunate that we conceded the fourth goal.”

Q: Brendan, the way the team fought back from 2-0 down. How much relief can that give you that you can cut it with the big boys, especially when you’re going into this play-off round next month?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Apart from the Dortmund game, where we were well beat on the night, we learned from that over the setback. We’ve gone away to Atalanta and kept a clean sheet. We’ve come here tonight; we’re in the game. We know what’s ahead in Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the next round. That’ll be a huge challenge for us. We’re building confidence at this level. Ensuring that we’re a team that can play and can work well and make it really difficult for the top teams.”

Q: Just on that, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich doesn’t get much tougher than that, does it?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Clearly, it’s a great reward for the work that the team and the club have done. Whoever we player, they’re clearly going to be top-level teams.”

Q: Back-to-back big moments for Adam Idah at this level?

Brendan Rodgers:  “He done really well. He’s obviously, as you can see, tired a little bit. He’s not been playing so much. Those were two big goals for him. Actually, how we created the goals were very good. His movement into the box, he’s made a couple of runs and then he’s had to adjust and make a great finish. The second one’s a great team goal. He is where he should be in the box for the squared pass and make the finish. I thought he was a handful all night. That’ll be good for his confidence.”

Q: Can you give us an insight into what you said to the players after half an hour during the break in play when Matty Cash was injured?

Brendan Rodgers:  “It’s just about staying calm. It can wobble you, it’s a Champions League game, you’re playing against a top, top team who will finish in the top eight, you see their quality, you see everything they have. We actually started the game well, and then obviously, in the minutes, played with authority, got through the pitch, but then there’s a wee bit of quality and a wee bit of indecision in our press. It’s just about keeping the calmness, keeping the belief, and the players, as I said, I was very proud of them tonight, how they were able to do that, because that’s a game that can really get away from you, especially in the atmosphere, and how good a side Aston Villa are.”

Q: Do you think the team’s going to be better prepared for whoever it is next, Bayern or Real, given the way they have performed since that setback in Dortmund, by going on a run up to this game?

Brendan Rodgers:  “It’s just experience, isn’t it? I think the experience that we’ve gained will have given the players confidence, and whoever you play in this next game, clearly it’s going to be a massive challenge, but we know we can make it very difficult for teams, and like we see tonight, right to the very end, we’re in a game, we’re in a possibility of winning, so we can take great confidence from that, how we’ve played, and see where it can take us.”

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Q: Brendan, now the group stage is finally finished, what have you just made of this new format?

Brendan Rodgers:  “We’ve really enjoyed it, I think, playing different teams, going to different cities, I think it’s been really, really good. I’m pretty sure there was probably a real level of excitement tonight, with people watching on the screens, and who you might get, and everything else. Since the supporters were there after the game, Aston Villa qualifying into the top eight, so it’s a great occasion for them.

“I’ve really enjoyed the variance in the games, the different levels, and I think even at this level it’s really tough, and I’m just proud of how we’ve performed. Scotland gets a wee bit of stick in its football; I think you can clearly see that we have teams that have the courage to play. We’re nowhere near the resource levels of any teams in the Premier League, but we can still be competitive, and that’s what we want to be. So, the format has been really good, I’ve really enjoyed it, and we’ll get ready for the next challenge.”

Conor Spence

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