Danny Murphy fires back at ‘narrative’ of Brendan Rodgers and Celtic in the Champions League 

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There were mixed emotions from Celtic fans after the Dinamo Zagreb result on Tuesday night.

On the one hand, it’s another point towards a Champions League play-off spot, but on the other, fans and everyone involved wanted more.

In truth, Celtic’s goalless draw against Zagreb was rather drab, yes, you can look towards the opponents not really coming at Brendan Rodgers’ side.

But it can’t be argued that Celtic themselves weren’t at their best, lacked that bite, speed and creativity in the final third.

That’s going forward, from a defensive aspect, that’s back-to-back away clean sheets for Celtic in Europe and it should be applauded.

The simple reason is that it wasn’t long ago that the Bhoys conceded seven against Borussia Dortmund, yet this is how they have responded.

That got Danny Murphy talking about what has previously been said about Rodgers and his teams in Europe’s elite competition.

Danny Murphy slams ‘narrative’ that Brendan Rodgers wouldn’t change Celtic’s style in the Champions League

Celtic continue to be dominant on the domestic stage and they can open up the game against anybody or even play at 70%, and still win.

But that can’t be repeated in Europe, especially on the road, hence why Celtic, and under Rodgers – both spells – have been on the end of a few hidings.

Murphy claimed that there was this ‘narrative’ that the man in Celtic’s dugout plays ‘one way’ and they are ‘wide open’, but they have now kept back-to-back clean sheets to dispel that, as he told talkSPORT (11/12/24 at 10:45 am). 

“Bit of a missed opportunity (against Dinamo Zagreb),” said Murphy. “Dominated the ball. Dominated the game, but just couldn’t break them down.

“If they are in the play-offs, then I think Celtic fans would have accepted that before and will enjoy those two games. Anybody going to Celtic in that play-off game, that will be a tough one – The Leipzig game. That was a hell of a performance.

“The two clean sheets away from Europe, especially Atalanta, but even (against Dinamo). Going away in Europe, anywhere is hard. It’s a completely different game. To have two clean sheets, because the narrative was ‘Brendan only plays one way. They are wide open. They go for it and they can’t stop conceding’. Well, they have gone to two clubs in Europe. One especially talented in Atalanta and got two clean sheets.”

Celtic’s defensive record compared to other teams in the Champions League

Remember, Celtic conceded seven in one game, yet after six matches, they have only conceded ten and bounced back in style. 

In comparison, some seriously big teams have shipped the same amount or more than the Glasgow giants, including the European Cup holders themselves.

Whilst Celtic kept a clean sheet in Atalanta – Real Madrid conceded two during their 3-2 win – but have conceded 11 so far and are level on points with the champions of Scotland in the table.