Brendan Rodgers reckons Celtic have “restored their credibility,” after a heartbreaking 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena last night…
Celtic’s heroic display in the Bavarian capital
Despite the Hoops’ heroic display in the Bavarian capital yesterday evening, Rodgers’ men crashed out of Europe’s elite club competition after Alphonso Davies’ heartbreaking injury-time equaliser sending the six-time winners of the competition through to the last 16.
Celtic were seconds away from reaching extra-time and becoming the first Scottish side to have ever won in 90 minutes on German soil. Nicolas Kuhn’s strike on the hour mark sent 4000 travelling away supporters into raptures.
The Celtic boss hailed his side’s marvellous Munich performance, and points to the 7-1 Dortmund hammering earlier on in the Champions League campaign to then coming so close against the Bundesliga champions elect in their 10th and final game as clear signs of progression in Europe’s top tier competition.
A real sucker punch
“It was [a sucker punch], not what the players deserved especially right at the very end,” Rodgers told Amazon Prime as he assessed Celtic’s near miracle result.
“They gave so much to the game, they played with confidence. We didn’t give away too much, I felt our concentration was good and denied them space, and then we had quality and some great moves, and actually had the best chances in the game I felt. A real heroic performance, just unfortunate at the end.”
“We wanted to start the game fast. It was important that we didn’t give away much. We had aggression and control in our game with the ball and without the ball. We got into some great positions.”
‘European credibility has been restored’
“We always felt that we were going to be there in the game, it was just about transferring that confidence into our play. It was just such a cruel way to not even lose the game but to go out of the competition.
“I think our European credibility has been restored this season, I think we’d built that up from last year, that’s my takeaway from this season. I think we have shown real quality at times, if you think of the last time we were in Germany and the improvements we have made now.”
With no automatic Champions League qualification guaranteed for next season’s tournament, Celtic will have to compete in a two-legged playoff to reach the Champions League in August. Rodgers believes to make further strides at this level, the squad needs strengthened in the summer.
‘We need to improve the squad again’
The 51 year-old said: “I think we need to improve the squad again. At this level you need to be able to bring quality off the bench as well and have that freshness. That’s the next step for us,” the Celtic manager said.
“But I think this season has been so good. We have played some amazing football, we’ve had adverse moments but recovered. My objective is to make us a seasoned team at this level that you can consolidate.
“I came back here to make progress in Europe and if I judge that myself on tonight then they have gave me everything. Now our job is to learn from that, learn from the experiences we’ve had this season, and finish off our season really well. We need to get back into the Champions League next season and let’s see if we can improve again.”
Conor Spence
‘My unswerving plan is to make us a seasoned club at this level’ 👊
Brendan Rodgers says he has ‘immense pride’ in his Celtic side ⤵️#BBCFootball #UCL pic.twitter.com/ELy7VXnqJX
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) February 18, 2025
