Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis was left gutted last night after his goal wasn’t enough to see the Hoops collect all three points against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Although the Scottish champions have created plenty of chances in the competition, they have lacked a cutting edge in front of goal which has become the story of the tournament.
With games so close to each other in the Champions League next year along with the possibility of injuries at any time, sometimes teams need a bit of luck and Celtic got that with the break of the ball Giakoumakis got in the box to smash the ball into the net.
On a personal level, for the Greek striker it makes his record all the more impressive having scored 25 goals for Celtic in 21 starts.
However, the 27-year old admitted that the goal meant nothing as his side fell out of Europe for the season with one game to spare.
Shakhtar always looked like a danger on the break and eventually punished Celtic midway through the second half to cancel out Giakoumakis’s earlier effort.
Scoring in the Champions League was a dream come true for the former VVV-Venlo forward but he had to put that emotion to the one side with his main focus being his side ending their European adventure.
“When we found out who we got in the group stages, we felt we could achieve more, by progressing to the next level,” said Giorgos Giakoumakis as quoted by the Scottish Sun.
“Unfortunately, we had some good performances but we couldn’t combine them with results and get more points.
“That’s why we didn’t pass through.
“We created so many chances again, it’s frustrating.
“You cannot be happy, even when you score your first Champions League goal, something you dream of when you’re a little boy.
“In the end we cant be happy as you want to succeed more in Europe.
“We should’ve celebrated today and we didn’t once more.
“I cannot say that we didn’t give everything we had.
“We gave everything, but we have to move forward and we keep moving.”
Attention will quickly turn back to domestic action for Celtic with a visit to the Tony Macaroni Arena to take on Livingston.
For Celtic to get back to playing in the Champions League it is important that they once again win the league title this season.
“It’s really clear that we want to be in this competition, the biggest in Europe.
“If we want to play there then we have to win the league, that is our first target again.
“We have to make sure that we win the league again and then next season play again in the Champions League.
“We’ll keep learning from these games and from our mistakes in the hope that we come back even stronger.”
