EURO VISION
Rodgers plots campaign beyond Christmas after coming through a test of nerve
BRENDAN RoDgERs last night set his sights on sealing European football after Christmas as Celtic survived a torrid test of nerve in Kazakhstan.
The scottish champions secured an 8-4 aggregate win after late goals from olivier Ntcham and Leigh griffiths eased a night of crippling tension.
Leading 5-0 from the first leg, the Parkhead side were 4-1 down with 20 minutes to play as Astana placed a makeshift defence under siege.
Relieved to see his team survive another Hapoel Be’er sheva moment to secure their place in tomorrow’s group-stage draw despite some ropey defending, Rodgers believes a minimum of third place
in the group is a target to aim for. ‘The first thing was to qualify,’ said the relieved Celtic boss. ‘It’s a big achievement with the route that we have to take and the games we have to play. ‘That was the first target. What we would like to do is try to progress this year and be in European football after Christmas. ‘We are coming into the highest level and we are going to play against some fantastic players. Players are only going to improve and get better and get better experience. ‘If we can be in European football after Christmas, that will be another great step forward for us.’ Celtic will learn their fate at 5.30pm tomorrow when they go into the draw in Monaco with Europe’s elite. ‘We look forward to the draw now,’ added Rodgers. ‘It’s brilliant for the club, it’s absolutely brilliant for Glasgow the city. ‘It’s not just about the football, it’s about the nation and what it does economically and commercially — and what it brings into the city of Glasgow. ‘Champions League football, business and everything. It’s fantastic. ‘We can sit and enjoy the flight back now. ‘We have achieved our goal and we look now towards Saturday’s home game before the players have a deserved break.’ Admitting the night was a more fraught affair than it should have been, Rodgers was forced to pitch Nir Bitton and Kristoffer Ajer into an untried central defence following a pre-match injury to Jozo Simunovic. Astana took the lead through an Ajer own goal before Scott Sinclair’s priceless strike calmed nerves at half-time. The loss of three goals in the opening 25 minutes of the second half dredged up memories of Artmedia Bratislava in 2005, late strikes from Ntcham and Griffiths lending the scoreline a slightly misleading appearance. ‘I felt we could have been better with the ball,’ acknowledged Rodgers. ‘But we can defend much better than that. ‘Across the whole campaign I’ve had midfield players playing centre-half, midfielders playing as strikers, right-backs playing centre-half. ‘So, the players have done absolutely magnificent and it’s another good learning game for us because we would want to be better than that defensively. But it’s a night to celebrate.’ Admitting he could only relax when Griffiths scored a third in the 90th minute, Rodgers admitted: ‘That was a good moment for us. The players were shocked by the goals we conceded and they were disappointing goals to be honest. ‘Once we got the second goal, the calmness came back into the team.’