Celtic captain Callum McGregor was his typically honest self in the wake of last night’s defeat to Bodo/Glimt, labelling his team ‘naive’ in their handling of the Norwegians.
Kjetil Knutsen’s team take a 3-1 lead back to the Arctic circle for next week’s second leg, re-establishing their two-goal advantage just moments after Celtic had pegged one back thanks to a Daizen Maeda header.
For McGregor, it was an error he doesn’t want to see Celtic repeat in European competition.
Speaking to The Daily Mail, he said: “If the game finishes 2-1, then you’ve got a real good chance. That’s the naivety we’ve got at this level in terms of being a new group.
“So, we’ve got to learn from that. We’ll do the analysis and learn that you’ve always got to switch on, especially when you score. That’s probably when you’re at your most vulnerable. We have to take that on the chin, reassess it, we go there next week and we try to turn it around.
“We got into some good situations, but the final pass just wasn’t quite there in terms of quality. That shows that we’ve still got a lot of learning to do in these big games. We need to step it up. They got three goals tonight because of the quality they have.”
Celtic have the resources and fan power that should set them apart from most Scandinavian opposition. But Bodo/Glimt acted like the big team last night.
They were ruthless in the application of their gameplan and there are certainly many things Celtic can learn from last night’s match – not just in terms of the Bhoys’ display.
Over the next few years we need to get to a level where we can dominate a knockout European match like they did.
Of course, there’s a chance to turn things around next week but more realistically Celtic are a long-term project at the European level under Ange.
It doesn’t make the performance last night any easier to take, but leaders in the dressing like McGregor have to push this squad forward.
In other news, Defiant Ange Postecoglou sends clear Celtic message after Bodo/Glimt humbling.
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