BRENDAN RODGERS while recognising his side’s failings on the night, also did his best to try to take the positives from the first leg of the Europa League knock-out round against Valencia last night.
And despite going to Spain next week two goals behind the Celtic manager isn’t ready to concede anything to the La Liga side in terms of qualification. An early goal next Thursday, he believes, could make it an interesting night.
“You have to have belief at this level. We have good players and might have one or two back next week. If we get the first goal then it could set us up for a really good second-leg,” a rather optimist Celtic manager stated in his post match interview with Celtic TV, see below.
At the post match media conference, Brendan expanded on his thoughts on the game.
“Valencia are a team who wait on mistakes, very organised, compact and we made too many mistakes especially in the first half under no pressure,” he noted.
“We gave it away and when you do that against good teams it kills your momentum and it puts you on the back foot. The lessons are you need to really concentrate.
“It is so important. You can get away with it domestically sometimes but certainly at this level against good players, if you bring pressure on to yourselves it makes it difficult for us.
“If you make the mistakes at this level you get punished, the disappointment is that it was basic mistakes and they capitalised on the two mistakes. We have to try to learn from it. We have a lot of young players, we have to take that on board and take it on the chin.
“We go next week to Valencia, it will be a very difficult game for us but if we get the first goal then it can bring a different possibility for us. We have to have that belief. We have got good players and we might have one or two back for then but we need to defend and concentrate well in key moments and, like I say, if we get the first goal then it could set us up for a really good second leg.”
Also on The Celtic Star…
‘That’s what the manager believes in and how he wants us to play,’ Celtic Star on Brendan’s tactics
Sandman’s Definitive Ra(n)tings – Celtic v Bal-En-Thee-A Euro Knockout Stages
‘A totally sub-standard performance from Celtic in Europe – again,’ David Potter
Disco Lights and a CEO Bonus but where’s the investment in the team?
Have your say on the new Celtic Fans forum, Celtic Voice where all Celtic Fans are welcome. Registering is simple and then you’ll be able to join in the conversation…
