Brendan Rodgers, upon his return to Celtic in July for a second managerial stint, set clear objectives for the team’s European campaign.
His goal was not only to strive for success in the Champions League but also to ensure Celtic’s presence in European football post-Christmas.
However, the 2-0 loss to Lazio on Tuesday evening has dashed these ambitions, with Celtic being eliminated from the Champions League and having no chance of progressing to the Europa League.
Back in July, Rodgers was clear about his aim for European football after Christmas and spoke at length about it. Back at the time, he said: [SunSport]
“We are going into the Champions League and our ambition is to qualify out of that group stage.
“That is a huge challenge but it’s a challenge we will embrace.
“If not, we want to try and ensure we have got European football after Christmas and go as far as we possibly can.
“You have to be realistic. You can be in a Champions League group with some of the richest teams in the world.
“Of course you want to be competitive and we can bring our A-game.
“But the reality against some of these teams is if we both bring our A-game, they will win.
“If you get a bit of luck in the competition, hopefully we can get out of the group stages.
“That’s what we would love to do but ultimately it’s about trying to get European football after Christmas.”
On Tuesday night, after the match, Brendan Rodgers made his disappointment and frustrations clear that Celtic didn’t achieve the aim of European football after Christmas. Speaking on TNT Sports, he said:
“It clearly is disappointing. We are disappointed as that was the aim [to play European football after Christmas].
“Things have been happening for us over the course of all our games. We have been hampered by our squad availability. At this level, we need to have our best players available. I have to commend the players as the ones that have been available have given it everything.
“The game was very competitive right the way through and we felt we had given everything to that but sadly we conceded the two goals.
“The effort and the commitment was there from the players.
“It is disappointing not to have European football like we wanted but we go into the last game now to see if we can finish with a higher points total than last season. ”
Hopefully, this time next year, we’ll be talking about how Celtic have learned their lessons and that the experience and quality that Brendan Rodgers is looking to add in January and in the summer has helped the side progress in Europe. Only time will tell.
