Brendan Rodgers has offered his thoughts on Celtic’s goalless stalemate with Dinamo Zagreb at Maksimir Stadium tonight.
Despite dominating possession, the Irishman’s side couldn’t carve a way through a resolute home outfit despite Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn coming closest to breaking the deadlock.
Marko Pjaca nearly won it late on for the hosts and was denied in superb fashion by Kasper Schmeichel with ten minutes to go, but both Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb settled for a point on an uneventful matchday six night.
Defences were on top, leaving the Bhoys on nine Champions League points heading into their final two clashes against Young Boys and Aston Villa.
Now, Brendan Rodgers has reacted to what he saw during an evening where his side can take positives and areas to work on.
Brendan Rodgers shares honest verdict on Zagreb stalemate
Speaking to TNT Sports, Rodgers admitted his side didn’t do enough to force the issue and felt frustrated at their work in the final third, albeit he appreciated his side gave everything to claim a result.
He explained: “From a defensive perspective, we were solid and we were strong. Probably both teams if I’m honest, the quality wasn’t very good. Certainly to our level We had a couple of wee moments, a couple of opportunities, but when we arrived there we just didn’t quite make the right pass, the right cross.
“To be fair, they defended one moment really, really well when we had a move, Arne crosses it and the defender does great. Apart from that, it wasn’t so good around the final third. We had a lot of the ball, good domination in the game, comfortable which is always a great sign for us, it’s just that extra little bit.
“That aside, it’s a point away from home. Another point, nine point after six games and it sets us up perfectly for our final game at home (vs Young Boys).”
Rodgers delves into Celtic positives and negatives
Later, he added on the pitch and lack of cutting edge: “It was quality, we lacked a wee bit of quality. The surface was a little bit tricky; I’ve got to say it was a bit lumpy, and it wasn’t the slickness that you want because of the surface. We went for it from the first whistle, but we lacked that bit of quality.”
Finally, on keeping a clean sheet: “That s the really pleasing aspect, we’re coming away from home and having confidence in how we can defend as a team, you seen that, the effort, the commitment of the players was absolutely fantastic.
“But like I say, we failed to open them up as much as we would’ve liked. We had good opportunities; we maybe just failed with that pass. I felt we needed to sustain the attack a little bit more in the final third. Other than that, the players gave everything.
“We made the changes to keep the energy in the game, but just once we arrived in there, we missed out on those couple of moments of quality to make the difference.”
Celtic didn’t do enough to muster a win on the night, but a point could prove valuable as they size up the task of taking Young Boys down come January under the lights.
Pros and cons can be taken from tonight, with some aspects definitely needing worked on. Nevertheless, when the dust settles, this won’t be viewed as a bad result by any means.
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