Brendan Rodgers has shared how his Celtic squad and staff reflected on their gut-wrenching Champions League exit against Bayern Munich – with a wee swally at their hotel in Germany, but not in a traditional Scottish way!
The Hoops came within seconds of forcing extra time at the Allianz Arena, only to be denied by a 94th-minute equaliser from Alphonso Davies.
Despite the disappointment, Rodgers was keen for his players to take pride in their incredible effort over both legs.
Rather than dwell on the heartbreak, the team took a moment to reflect together – but in a more relaxed manner than a typical Scottish night out, according to the manager.
He tole Clyde 1 SSB:
“What you look for in this game is respect. You’ll come off the pitch and them guys will respect you for what you did over the couple of games. And these are guys that will be challenging for maybe the Champions League itself.
“So for that, again, the disappointment was there, naturally, because of the nature of how the game ended. But no, I said to the players, for us to be sat here feeling like this, it really shows how far you’ve come, really, because I looked in their eyes after the Dortmund game and that was a real tough one. So we pushed on and we went back to the hotel.
“We had a beer and then got back to training the next day. They very rarely get the chance to do that, very rarely get the chance. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a typical Scottish night!
“It wasn’t what you would consider. It was a nice, relaxed beer and a wine. And then we trained the next day, stayed overnight, trained the next day and getting ready for Hibs.
“But it’s very important that you can just reflect a little bit and relax and think about the moments within the game and the performance. But very quickly, you have to move on.”
Celtic will now turn their focus to domestic success, with a Scottish Premiership title and a potential treble still on the line.
There’s no time to ease back into things, with Hibs at Easter Road to face on Saturday. It’s an early kick off for the Hoops in the capital, with a 12.30 start.
For fans unable to get along to the game, Premier Sports will be showing the match, not Sky Sports.
Celtic travelled to Easter Road on the second day of the season and left with a 2-0 win over the side.
