Celtic down and out
● Boss Rodgers blames poor defending and lack of summer transfer activity for Champions League exit
Brendan Rodgers highlighted lack of solidity on the park and lack of transfer activity off it as Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League qualifying phase following a 2-1 defeat in Athens last night.
The second leg of their third-round qualifier against AEK Athens was settled by goals early in either half that Rodgers admitted were the result of “poor defending; it’s a simple as that” – the story of both legs that ended with the Greeks winning 3-2 on aggregate. The damage could not be rectified despite Celtic coming close after ramping up the pressure in pursuit of the strike that would have sent them through on the away-goals rule following a headed reply from Scott Sinclair in the 78th minute.
A poor summer transfer window which has brought no new faces to the Scottish champions, Rodgers conceded, hardly helped in the failed bid for a third straight appearance in the Champions League group stages.
Meanwhile, he repeated his prematch line about needing “all the help we can get” with as many of the “best players” “fit and available” in response to the fact Dedryck Boyata had not travelled.
The defender claimed an injury after his agent had suggested he wouldn’t play with his future on the line following broken promises from the club they
would facilitate a transfer for him following the World Cup prior to turning down a £9m offer from Fulham.
But Rodgers’ main frustrations centred on exiting from the competition on the back of outplaying a defensively stout AEK in either leg. As a result they will face a Europa League play-off next week, probably against Lithuanians FK Suduva.
“Over the course of the two games it is disappointing to have that much control and opportunity and concede soft goals,” Rodgers said.
“The two tonight, we’ve got to stop the cross. And then when it comes in we have got to defend it better. You can’t defend that softly and we got punished.
“You shouldn’t have to lose to learn, I always think that, but we have to learn and two soft goals have cost us. I don’t want to make any excuses and I’ve said what I wanted to say about us needing to improve and make improvements.
“You have to. You only need to look at Liverpool, they made the Champions League final and went out and got great signings and strengthened the squad.
“I’ve always said we needed to strengthen the squad no matter how good we’ve been over the years. So that’s something I hope we can do. It’s no good for us now [in the Champions League] but it’s important we get European football this year.”
A further twist in the Boyata saga came before Celtic’s Champions League loss yesterday in relation to the perception of the centreback as a refusenik following comments made by his agent Jacques Lichtenstein that, as his client is in the final year of his contract, he could not risk playing when not 100 per cent fit.
The 27-year-old Belgian posted a video showing treatment he was receiving to his back and thigh as proof he was not shirking from the trip to Athens.