Alistair Johnston spoke to the mixed-zone after Celtic’s heroic display at the Allianz Arena last night….
Q: Can you sum up the disappointment of losing the tie in that manner, going out in that fashion?
Alistair Johnston: “It is vivid right now. It is tough to put into words, but again, disappointment is definitely not the word that comes to my mind. Everyone out there performed heroically. I mean, this is, again, this is one of the best teams in the world. There are no two ways about that. Coming to their place where they’ve got an unbelievable home record, not only in the league but in Europe as well. We held our own. They needed a last kick of the game to equalise to get through against us. So that’s the part that hurts. We put so much into it to not get, you know, the reward of potentially going through.
“Even then, if we kept that, we’re still going to need to go into extra time and going to need to find a way to dig in there, which I think we showed we had that ability to dig in. No, I’m just really proud of this group. I think that a lot of people would have written us off going to this length, you know, going down, being down a goal on aggregate and coming to this amazing stadium, an amazing crowd, an amazing team. For us to show up like that, I think it will have a lot of respect not only in Europe but around the globe.”
Q: The manager said to have no regrets do you have any?
Alistair Johnston:“Yeah, there’s no regrets at all. It’s an unbelievable team, and I’m unbelievably proud of my group. I think that every single man who stepped out there can leave with their head held high and that’s something that is really important for us. We knew it was always going to be an uphill battle. No matter who we drew, we knew it was going to be difficult. Getting one of the premier teams in the world was always going to be an uphill battle from the get-go. I think that we showed that we belong at this level and I know that’s something that the gaffer really had thought long and hard about when he wanted to come back to the club.
“It was a big thing for him that he wanted to take that next step in Europe, and I think we showed that. Getting out of the group, the league phase, and going toe-to-toe with a giant. I’m proud of this group. We’re out of Europe, but we can use that pride and that confidence to get us through the end of this season and hopefully come back next season with a vengeance.”
Q: You showed that you learned so much after the Dortmund game, didn’t you?
Alistair Johnston: “It’s funny, after the match you probably heard a lot of cliché things in terms of we’ve got to learn from this and all that. It is just clichés if you’re just saying it to say it. For us, it wasn’t buzzwords. No, seriously, we’re going to look at this and we’re going to break down the video, and realise, OK, what did we do wrong? What do we need to do better? We needed to understand that Europe, especially away, is not going to be like a domestic game. You can’t always be so open and expect to get results against these top teams.”
“I think that we matured in terms of our approach. We weren’t so rash, we weren’t so emotional in certain moments feeling like we’ve been under the cosh for five minutes here. I thought we were very stable mentally in that aspect in terms of not getting worked up because it’s not something we’re used to domestically. We don’t normally go five, ten-minute spells without getting out of our half. But I thought that we showed such composure and maturity in terms of defending.”
Q: It had to be Alphonso Davis who scored, didn’t it?
Alistair Johnston: “Yeah, I’ve touched on it before, I mean, he is an unbelievable player and it had to be him, didn’t it, coming on and scoring in pretty much the last kick of the game. I thought that he changed the game for them a little bit on that left side especially when I felt it defending down that channel, just his directness, his ability to go at guys and create.”
“So, no, it’s good to see him back, obviously from a Canadian perspective. We’ve got some massive matches coming up in March. He’s our captain and our best player. He’s someone that we really rely on. I wouldn’t have minded if he waited a couple more days, but, no, I’m happy for him. He’s a big-time player here and, you know, he just signed a new deal, a five-year deal. I think everyone here knows how important he is. So, no, it’s good for him. Obviously, if it had to be anyone, I’m happy that it was him because he deserves it. He’s a top-notch player.”
Q: Did you swap shorts with him?
Alistair Johnston: “Yeah, I got one. I got a couple of others for some young boys. He’s a great lad. He sorted it out. So he went in there and grabbed an extra handful. So I’ve got a couple more to give out to guys on the bus.”
Q: You say you have no regrets but how do you feel that tonight Celtic created some big, big chances and didn’t take them?
Alistair Johnston: “Again, yeah, we created some big chances. When you see Manuel Neuer, trust me, I felt it in the first leg. That doesn’t look as big as it normally does. But, yeah, again, it’s just something that I’m proud of. I mean, we did create chances. On another night, maybe you go into half-time, a couple up but at the same time, you can’t look at it in a what-if situation because if you go up two, then for all you know, they throw the kitchen sink at you and it’s a different game as well. So it is what it is. We were in there. We were hanging on and I think that I’d be curious to see what their full-time comments are as I think that we would have earned a lot of respect, not only from them but from other teams as well.”
Q: There’s been progress in the Champions League. That’s been evident in this Champions League run, hasn’t it?
Alistair Johnston: “That’s what the manager came back for. He wanted to progress this club to this level. That was one of the biggest things that gave him a reason to want to come back because he had accomplished everything domestically up here in Scotland. So that was his big aim, that he didn’t want to just be dominant domestically, but he wanted to take that next step. So just talking and listening to him after the match and how proud he was of our group, it’s the same feelings that I feel. It’s an impressive performance. We just went toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich at the Allianz.”
Q: If that’s not progressing, what is?
Alistair Johnston: “Yeah, exactly. You got out of the league phase. I am just proud, man. Does that feel like a coming-of-age performance for Celtic in Europe tonight? The Atalanta game, obviously, after Dortmund, was a great response, but this felt different tonight. This is a different type of arena. Yeah, this is one of the world’s meccas in a way. It’s unbelievable to see me walk out there. Just the number of people out there and everything.
“But again, that Atalanta match really set the foundation to be able to do this. I think that’s what we learned. Again, as difficult as that Dortmund match was, and we’ve talked about it, that set the framework to be able to go out there and have the confidence to defend our box and do all the dirty things and little things
Again, that’s our tenth match in the Champions League this year. That’s a lot of football at its highest level. So we’ve learned a lot, and hopefully, we can continue that into next year. It’s not going to be an easy road to get back here.”
Q: Do you feel you can come back bigger and better for the Champions League?
Alistair Johnston: “That’s got to be the plan. I think the gaffer’s going to be very strong on that. So it’s up to us as players to now realise okay, we’re able to play at this level. Now it’s about how can we turn a last-minute chance like that into something for us. But no, I am just really proud of this group.”
‘Disappointment is definitely not the word that comes to mind. It was a heroic performance from everyone’ 🙌
Celtic’s Alistair Johnston after his side’s cruel Champions League exit ⤵️#BBCFootball #UCL pic.twitter.com/iHD2wLX3rZ
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) February 18, 2025
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