Everything Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said to TNT Sports after Celtic's 7-1 away loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League...
Brendan, a heavy European defeat away from home, what’s your reaction to that?
Obviously, we’re really disappointed with the result and the performance. I don’t think I’ve been involved in a game where virtually every mistake we made got punished. That’s the level - the highest level of football - and we got punished for that. We can be better with the ball, but I think the early goals, going down 3-1, 4-1 early spooked us a bit. We didn’t play with the same confidence, and they were playing at a high level. In the second half, the guys showed great spirit. We had more possession of the ball and took greater risks with the ball in terms of looking to create. Ultimately, we were beaten by a much better team.
With hindsight, was there anything that you might do differently with the set-up? You said you were looking for balance, but you didn’t quite find that. Is there a way you have to adapt to these kinds of games in Europe?
We’ll assess it and look back afterwards. We wanted to press the game, but we wanted to be balanced. We tried to be compact, but there were too many times when we ran out of position at the wrong moment or time, and the top players punished us. That was something certainly that we’ll look at for the coming games.
Was there a reason the game got away from you in the first half? Was it just the fact that the goals were early, or is there a bigger issue?
We got punished for giving the ball away, we were too rushed and needed longer spells with the ball in the first half. We had to hold the ball for longer periods, and once we arrived into their half we were looking to find that killer pass too early. From that, we were giving the ball away constantly, so you’re chasing the ball. Their front line is so fast and direct - coupled with real quality - they punished us in the first half for that.
"We'll always adapt, but sometimes quality shines through."
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 1, 2024
Brendan Rodgers reflects on Celtic's challenges in Europe against top-tier opponents 🗣️
🎙️ @DannyJamieson pic.twitter.com/E9uSCO9Z57
Celtic fans will want to know why this keeps happening (heavy results in Europe) - is there a reason why these still happen in Europe?
It’s exactly the teams you just mentioned (Barcelona, PSG, Real Madrid).
Do you have to adapt?
We always have to adapt, but sometimes the quality just breaks through that. Are we going to sit in and camp and wait? No, we’re not going to do that. We play our way that allows us to dominate domestically, we know it’s going to be difficult for us to do that in Europe, but we have to show our ability with the ball. I thought we weren’t anywhere near that level, and we gave it away too easily, which we got punished for. We had two penalties in the first half, and we conceded off of a corner - the attacker scored an unbelievable goal from outside the box. Before we knew it, we were 4-1 down. Clearly, that can affect confidence, but I was proud of the players in the second half, as they kept fighting and their spirits up. We’ll be disappointed with the performance, the first time we’ve had this losing feeling, but you have to learn from it and move on.
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