CALLUM McGREGOR spoke to Celtic TV after last night’s hugely disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Valencia in the Europa League.
“It was a disappointing night for us,” he said to Celtic TV.
“The first 15 minutes we started the game well, showed what we were all about then we made one or two sloppy passes in the game and went into our shells a little bit. Against the good, good teams you get punished with those mistakes.
“They are right up there with some of the best teams I have played against. They are really defensively organised, they almost give you comfort in the game and then one sloppy pass and then you are done on the counter.
“I think our confidence did go a bit. You could see it in the last 20-25 minutes, we weren’t getting through them as much as we would have wanted and defensively they were solid. But it is important that we learn from that tonight, and then when we go out there try to start well in the game, and if we can nick a goal that changes the tie completely. It kind of reverses it.
‘We have seen 2-0 scorelines so many times when teams think they have comfort, they lose a goal and the whole thing falls apart. That is the mindset we need to take next week.”
McGregor also confirmed that there will be no chance in Celtic’s tactics and that means that we will continue playing the ball around the back four – even when faced with opponents as technically gifted as these Valencia players.
“That’s what the manager believes in and how he wants us to play. We’ve had success playing this way, look at the likes of Leipzig coming here,” McGregor argued.
“We have shown at a higher level we can do it. I think it’s natural for fans to be a bit of edge when they see risky passes from the back or across the back four. But we have shown in the last two and a half years we are getting better at it. We just need to take it to the top level because the fans enjoy seeing it domestically.
“The Mestalla is one of the most iconic stadiums in Europe. I watched a lot of Spanish football growing up and there are obviously massive stadiums. I’ve done the Nou Camp and this will be another to tick off the list. It will be good to go out there and see what it’s all about. But we are not going out there just to see the place. We are going to try to turn the tie around and see where it takes us.”
It would take something more than a miracle in the Mestalla for Celtic to get through this tie now. Damage limitation and concentrate on the treble. Our biggest game is in Kilmarnock and not Valencia.
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