Sport: Bullish Celtic boss targets progress from Champions League groups
● Rodgers aims for European football after Christmas as club secures Champions League qualification
Brendan Rodgers admitted he endured another night of Champions League qualification worry after Celtic progressed into the group stage despite a 4-3 defeat in Astana.
Their 5-0 thrashing of the Kazakhstan champions in the first leg at Celtic Park last week gave them a sizeable cushion but there were some nervy moments for the Northern Irishman in a pulsating encounter in the Astana Arena.
Now Rodgers has called on his squad to improve on last season’s showing by finishing in the top three in their group and securing European football beyond Christmas.
The home side took the lead through an own goal by Kristoffer Ajer before Scott Sinclair curled in the equaliser.
Two goals in a minute at the start of the second half by attackers Serikzhan Muzhikov and Patrick Twumasi brought the home side back to life and when the Ghanaian grabbed his second to make it 4-1 there were some anxious moments before late goals by Olivier Ntcham and Leigh Griffiths gave the visitors an 8-4 aggregate win and confirmed they would be in European football’s top club competition for the second successive season.
Rodgers recalled last season when his side survived a nervy second-leg onslaught to reach the Champions League group stage with a narrow 5-4 aggregate playoff win over Hapoel Beer Sheva.
“Welcome to the annual Beer Sheva moment,” said Rodgers after the game. “When the second goal went in, that was a good moment for us.
“We turned the momentum of the game then. The players were shocked with the goals we conceded but once we got the second goal the calmness came back into the team and that leads into the third goal and we defended much better then. But I think it is a yearly thing these moments.
“We have gone through this qualification phase really well but we had to withstand that and we have seen it before, teams maybe crumbling away and all of a sudden you have a shock result. But in the end we had 19 attempts at goal and the domination of possession but I still want us and expect us to be better.”
Last season Celtic finished bottom of their group which included Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach and Manchester City, with three points and no wins.
As he looked forward to tomorrow’s draw, Rodgers targeted at least third place in the group and Europa League football this time around.
He said: “Our aim was firstly to qualify, it’s a big achievement with the route we have to take and the games we have to play. That was the first target. What we would like to do is progress this year and be in European football after Christmas.
“We are going to play against some fantastic players in the Champions League, the highest club level, and the players will improve and if we can be in European football after Christmas that will be another great step forward for us.
“But we look forward to the draw. It is brilliant for the club and for Glasgow, the city.
“It is not just about the football, it is about the nation and what it does economically and commercially, what Champions League football brings to Glasgow. It is absolutely fantastic.”
Celtic reached the group stages of the Champions League as expected but the manner of their progress was anything but assured.
Although they ran out 8-4 winners on aggregate, the 4-3 second-leg defeat in Astana was their first of the season, and there were some nervy moments for the Scottish champions in a pulsating encounter at the Astana Arena.
Celtic, who thrashed the Kazak side 5-0 at Parkhead last week, were undermined by poor defending, with Nir Bitton looking particularly uncomfortable at the heart of the defence.
Celtic’s 19-year-old defender Kristoffer Ajer, in for injured Jozo Simunovic, also had a torrid night. It was the youngster who deflected a shot from defender Dmitri Shomko past goalkeeper Craig Gordon in the 26th minute to give Astana the merest glimmer of hope, quashed, it appeared, eight minutes later when Scott Sinclair curled in the equaliser.
Two goals in a minute at the start of the second half from attackers Serikzhan Muzhikov and Patrick Twumasi brought the home side back to life and when Ghanaian Twumasi grabbed his second the visitors were on the ropes before late goals from Olivier Ntcham and Leigh Griffiths confirmed Brendan Rodgers’ side were into the group stages for the second successive season.
The Northern Irishman was again forced to start with a makeshift central defence due to injuries.
Bitton, essentially a midfielder, had passed a fitness test on an ankle injury and the midfielder was paired with Ajer, who had played in the 2-0 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday.
The only other Celtic change from the first leg saw midfielder Callum Mcgregor take over from Tom Rogic, who started on the bench.
If anything, the Scottish champions looked more like getting the first goal than their hosts in the early exchanges. Twumasi drilled a shot from 20 yards just past the post in the tenth minute but it was not the whirlwind start a side needing five goals might have been expected to make.
Sinclair and Mcgregor both had good efforts as Celtic moved with menace.
The home side got in front slightly against the run of play when Shomko edged towards the Celtic box and drilled in a left-footed drive which came off Ajer leaving Gordon with no chance.
Astana’s supporters were energised with optimism but that should have been extinguished seconds later when Sinclair burst through the fragile Kazakh defence only to blast his shot against home goalkeeper Nenad Eric.
However, the former Manchester City and Aston Villa player was so much more accurate in the 33rd minute when, from the edge of the box, in trademark style, he curled the ball high past the Astana keeper and into the far corner before running to take the acclaim of the couple of hundred Celtic fans who had made the long journey east.
Both sides continued to go forward. Moments later, James Forrest headed a Kieran Tierney cross past the near post before Gordon brilliantly tipped a powerful header from Marin Anicic over the bar following a Muzhikov corner.
Muzhikov’s early second-half goal came after an uncharacteristic mistake by Scott Brown in giving away possession then heading a cross on to the Astana player who poked the ball in from close range.
A minute later the unmarked Twumasi headed a Shomko cross past Gordon and suddenly some hope was restored althoughfourmoregoalswere required.
Rodgers replaced Mcgregor with Rogic and Forrest with teenage defender Anthony Ralston before Stuart Armstrong came on for Sinclair.
Griffiths missed a great chance when he controlled a Tierney cross on his chest before thrashing the ball over the bar and looked further aghast seconds later as Twumasi raced in from the right and squeezed the ball past Gordon from a tight angle.
There was bedlam among the home fans. Eric made a fine save from Griffiths’ freekick just before Gordon prevented Twumasi and Muzhikov adding further to Astana’s lead.
Twumasi then blazed over the bar from ten yards with the Celtic defence reeling but – on an 80th-minute break – Ntcham steered a shot past Eric which allowed everyone of a green and white persuasion to breath more comfortably, before Griffiths, with two minutes of regulation time remaining, helped himself to a goal on the break with a fine angled-drive.