CeltsAreHere were in attendance at Ange Postecoglou’s post-match press conference after the bhoys played out a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk.
The result officially knocked Celtic out of Europe this season. While we’ve been competitive in the games we’ve played, the finishing hasn’t been up to par. Individual mistakes at vital moments during the game have also been our undoing.
It’s a case of so near but so far for Ange Postecoglou’s men who will now pick over the bones of the campaign despite having one more game to play against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglu REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Speaking after the game, Ange was clear in his mission at Celtic and the road back to European football starts now.
“We know the areas we have fallen short in this campaign” Ange told CeltsAreHere. “They are the areas we obviously need to improve in. But that only comes with experience and learnings and improvement.
“That’s our task – to take what we learned this year and improve for next year but we have to qualify again. We haven’t been in this competition for five years. If you do that it’s very hard to just come in and make an impact.
“Our job and my responsibility is to make sure we are there every year. If we are there every year and keep chipping away at it then we will be able to make more of an impact.”
We were never a million miles away from the teams we played and unlucky in some respects. Ange will believe another year with these players will make a huge difference to their chances next time around. But, as he said, we need to get there again. To have another crack at the Champions League next term, we must now put all our energy into retaining our SPFL title.
The bhoys currently sit four points clear at the top of the table.
