Ange Postecoglou has stressed that attempting to qualify for the UEFA Europa League knockout stages is important to Celtic, despite Champions League disappointment.
Celtic have struggled in this year’s elite group stages, though still have the chance of finishing in third place. A win against Shakhtar Donetsk is vital in that regard.
Postecoglou understands the challenges that more European football will bring to his squad over the next few months. However, he has insisted he wants to stay in Europe for as long as possible because it all aids the end goal of making a Champions League impact down the line.
Asked about vying for third, Postecoglou said as quoted by The Scotsman: “I think all European football is a challenge. You have to remember, for all clubs, not just ourselves, it’s a real balancing act playing in Europe and domestic football – particularly if you want to challenge in both.
“So, whether you’re playing in the Europa or whether you’re playing in the Conference, it’s still that challenge of backing up midweek with playing again at the weekend, travel, the physical toll from European football that it takes.
“Yes, it is important for us to try and qualify for a couple of reasons to the Europa – one, we couldn’t get our primary target and our second target is to play European football beyond January and we want to try and get that. It’s still a possibility, so why would we dismiss that?
“And, two, every time you do play in Europe there’s always a learning there, especially for our players. For most of them this is their first real crack at European football and they’re doing it at Champions League level.
“They’re not being eased into it. They’ve been thrown in. They’ll be better footballers for it and the more we can stay in there the better. Ultimately, we’re not going to dismiss goals because maybe they’re a bit hard.”
Hopefully, this is the message that is being hammered home to the players tonight. There’s no reason to stop aiming for Champions League points now, despite the way things have panned out over the last six weeks.
As Postecoglou says, finishing with four points from the last two games is a difficult challenge, but that’s no reason not to push for it.
In other news, Future Celtic transfer concern shot down by confident Ange Postecoglou.
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