Ange Postecoglou may well have been the most disappointed man in Glasgow last night – purely because his standards for Celtic are so high.
Ask many Celtic supporters for their take on last night’s 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid and notes of pride, excitement and positivity are as likely to come through as the obvious dislike for taking a loss.
The performance that the Scottish champions produced for 55 or so minutes gave much joy to the 60,000 people packed inside Paradise and the many more watching on television.
At the end of the match, supporters were even strongly showing support for the team and manager, making everyone aware that this group and these fans are moving forward together.
In his post-match press conference, however, Postecoglou was not in the mood to let anybody off the hook, stressing that at this level Celtic need to do better to win matches.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, the Celtic boss said: “Obviously, I’m disappointed with the outcome. I always thought the first goal was going to be important – up until that point I thought we were well in the game. If anything, we had the better chances – we have to capitalise on them and didn’t.
“Once the goal went in, they have the quality to take control of the game. We tried to press on but they were able to exploit the spaces that we left. Up until the 60 minute mark when they scored we were well in the game – but we learned at this level you will be punished if you don’t take your chances.
“I just feel the responsibility of bringing this football club to this level. It’s what these fans deserve. There’s no starker reminder of that than the reception they gave us after the game. They deserve to see their football club compete against clubs with the quality of Real Madrid on a regular basis. I want to get us up to this level.
“For us as a team, you don’t need a reminder that it’s fine margins against the best. When you have opportunities, you need to take them. It’s different if you don’t create anything. What we learned today we already knew. We’ve got to be really clinical in both boxes.”
It’s the perfect response from the manager. He isn’t going to let Celtic be patronised or patted on the head here. He wants to be able to beat teams like Real at Paradise.
So while there’s no real need for negativity coming out of last night’s match, Postecoglou is undoubtedly going to use it to further motivate his players and bring them to the kind of performance needed to pick up points in this group.
The manager is setting the standard. Last night, we didn’t quite reach it, but there’s plenty of hope left in Group F.
In other news, Motherwell CEO explains bizarre Celtic kick-off time that isn’t great for travelling supporters.
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