Feyenoord boss Arne Slot has expressed his sympathy towards Celtic’s challenging Champions League campaign, suggesting that luck wasn’t on their side in key moments.
Celtic’s Gustaf Lagerbielke is shown a red card by referee Irfan Peljto REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
Speaking ahead of the matchday six encounter at Celtic Park, Slot highlighted the fine margins that have defined the group stage for teams like Celtic and Feyenoord.
Despite Celtic being finishing at the bottom of their group, with Feyenoord moving to the Europa League, Slot believes that the performance gap between the second, third, and fourth-placed teams has been minimal. He pointed out that critical moments in games, which sometimes hinge on luck, have had significant impacts on the standings.
He said: [Daily Record]
“If you don’t have the money, you should have a good programme or a good idea on how to play football. To be honest, I feel sorry for Celtic because they have played really well in the Champions League, together with us. We’ve played really well as well. You need a good idea of how you want to play.
“If you are not having the money some other clubs have, you need a little bit of luck as well. Two teams face each other tomorrow who haven’t had any, any, any luck at all during the first five games they played!
“Unfortunately, one of the two teams who is reaching the last 16 have had – not luck in the way that they (Lazio) are not good, I don’t mean it in that way – but if you score in the 96th minute with your goalkeeper and you score here at Celtic Park in the 93rd minute, the 2-1, those are the moments.
“We played there and had a very good chance in the 90 minutes, those are the moments if you only play six games that can make the difference. That is not making a difference for Man City or Bayern Munich or those kinds of clubs, because they are 20 per cent better than every team they face. They aren’t dependent on luck or bad luck. But if you are “a smaller side” like Celtic and us when it comes to money, you need a clear playing style and little bit of luck.”
Celtic and Feyenoord will go toe-to-toe tonight with Celtic looking to pick up a win in the group, after only picking up a single point in the first five games, despite some decent performances. It would put an end to the 16 matches without a win streak that the Hoops are currently on.
