Celtic’s draw with Red Star Belgrade in match day one of the Europa League was a very good result for the Bhoys.
Celtic played in a very hostile environment and controlled much of the game and never really allowed Red Star to break down their defence.
After a goalless 45 minutes, Celtic took the lead through Kelechi Iheanacho as the Nigerian scored his first European goal in the green and white Hoops.
However, Red Star equalised to earn a point and Brendan Rodgers has now shared how he and the Celtic players felt about getting that creditable draw in Belgrade.
Why Brendan Rodgers and Celtic were ‘disappointed’ with Red Star Belgrade draw
Any positive result away from home for Celtic is a good one but Rodgers says that he and his players were not happy with getting just the draw in Serbia.
When asked if he thought Celtic’s draw with Red Star was good for the confidence of the Celtic players, Rodgers shared what he really thought of the result.
Rodgers told Celtic TV, “Yeah, and I also think the disappointment of not winning the game because we felt that we could have won the game.
“We’re not just happy to take the point in general, I think we know we played against a team that were they were doing very, very well.
“It’s seven straight victories in the domestic league which gives them confidence, and they’ve got some really good players, but we went there and challenged that.
“And I felt with the second half performance we could have done even more in the game. But like we’ve been all season, we have a strong foundation defensively, and we bring that to tomorrow night’s game and continue working and look to get the goals to match some of the approach play, then that’ll give us even more confidence.”
How Celtic have fared against SC Braga previously as Europa League campaign continues
Celtic have faced SC Braga in Europe previously but not in the Europa League.
A Champions League qualifier in 2010 saw Neil Lennon’s Celtic pitted against the Portuguese club at the third-round qualifying stage.
And, as is the norm, Celtic failed to get past Braga as they dropped out of Europe’s elite competition.
- 28/07/2010: SC Braga 3 v 0 Celtic
- 04/08/2010: Celtic 2 v 1 SC Braga
Whilst the home result was favourable, it wasn’t enough to turn around a 3-0 deficit from the first-leg in Portugal.
However, Celtic supporters will take a repeat of that home fixture tonight if it meant getting another three Europa League points on the board.
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