Rodgers: That was our best Euro win
McGregor’s stunning strike reminds boss Rodgers of Lampard burying Bayern
BRENDAN RODGERS reckons Celtic’s triumph over Zenit St Petersburg is the best European win of his reign.
The Hoops boss feels his men showed how much they have matured by delivering a complete performance on Thursday night.
And Rodgers admits the
IT was Callum McGregor who scored but for Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers it was reminiscent of Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.
The Hoops boss watched his midfield maestro artfully destroy Zenit St Petersburg with a stunning finish that brought to mind the Blues’ hero doing the same to Bayern Munich in 2005.
The chest control of a high, awkward ball, the swivel as it dropped from the sky and technique to rifle home in the same movement with unerring accuracy and skill.
Rodgers was a youth coach at Chelsea when Lampard similarly buried the Germans in the 4-2 win Champions League at Stamford Bridge 13 years ago.
Fast forward to Thursday night and the Celtic manager was reliving the moment with McGregor before sprinting off down the touchline in celebration.
Rodgers said: “His goal reminded me of a goal Lampard scored at Stamford Bridge against Bayern.
“The ball came over and he had to swivel on his left-hand side to finish it from a really difficult angle.
“That was like Callum’s goal because he had to go up and swivel on his right foot and then finish.
“Callum finds space very, very well and he is a goal threat. He is a young player who scored big goals in big games.
“It might not have been enough to qualify but he has always had the ability to score big goals. He is an outstanding young player.”
Just like Lampard, McGregor has also found the net against Bayern Munich in the Champions League having scored against the Germans in this season’s group stages.
However, the Europa League clash against the Russians was just as significant as it helped to mark the progress of the squad.
Rodgers has drilled it into his side to be brave on the continent. Take possession, have the belief, stay calm, don’t panic. Trust your ability against the best.
McGregor has taken the advice on board and was the standout performer among impressive team-mates as Zenit were zapped in the first leg of the last-32 tie.
Rodgers said: “Callum can play in a number of positions and all to a very high level.
“On Thursday we played Callum off the front to support but also in the midfield so we had four v three.
“What is important is the squad. We have really talented players but we have a lot of games to play. We need that big squad because you can’t play in every single game.
“Callum has played in a lot of big games and I took him out the team for a wee bit because he was playing a lot because of the injuries to the players who are similar to him – Tom Rogic and Stuart Armstrong and these guys.
“Callum wasn’t getting a rest and so we took him out to get him fit and fresh so we could slowly introduce him again. On Thursday he was absolutely brilliant.”
McGregor, of course, wasn’t alone in that. Eboue Kouassi’s spot in the starting line-up at the expense of Scott Sinclair took several supporters by surprise prior to kick off at Parkhead.
Yet the Ivory Coast ace stamped an authority over the contest alongside Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham to lay the platform for his team to secure their 1-0 lead to take to St Petersburg on Thursday.
Rodgers said: “He (Kouassi) has been very unfortunate and it is purely the way I have set the team up. I don’t really go with two holding midfield players because I tend to go and attack.
“It normally just leaves Scott as the controlling player but he is going to be a big player for the future of this club.
“He is very refined in how he plays. He presses the game and the ball and I was surprised he had a shot on Thursday. He is hungry for the ball and that is what we want.”
Scoring an away goal in Russia could be enough to get Celtic into the last 16, which made Moussa Dembele’s timely return to fullpower mode against Zenit all the more pleasing for Rodgers.
He said: “We went through a harsh period there with a lot of players out.
“Moussa was right back on it. He was absolutely brilliant and occupied the back four on his own. The touch, quality, strength, power and everything was there.”