Nenad Bjelica must have watched a different game after post-match Dinamo Zagreb vs Celtic comments

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Celtic’s draw with Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League has certainly offered up differing opinions on the result in Croatia last night.

Brendan Rodgers was happy with Celtic’s draw as the Hoops boss delivered another clean sheet away from home in the Champions League this season.

Dinamo Zagreb’s players’ verdict on the Celtic stalemate was a strange one as they seemed to believe that they deserved to win a game that really offered nothing in terms of clear-cut chances.

And it seems their manager, Nenad Bjelica, has the same thoughts after what he said in his post-match press conference inside the Stadion Maksimir.

Nenad Bjelica believes Dinamo Zagreb deserved to beat Celtic in Champions League

Bjelica told Arena Sports TV, “These guys of mine played a great game today. Everything I asked of them they achieved.

“We didn’t allow anything to the opponent. We had a very good chance from Pjaca, two shots from Baturina… If anyone should have won, it was us. Rog and Kacavenda did a great job in the middle.

“None of them are the last midfielders, but they did a perfect job in defence and brought some momentum forward when they could.”

Bjelica was probably just delighted that his Zagreb team, who were decimated with injury, just made it through the game without being defeated by Celtic but claiming his side should have won the match was a bit of a stretch.

Nenad Bjelica admits he made a mistake in Dinamo Zagreb’s first half vs Celtic

Celtic absolutely dominated the first half against Zagreb as Brendan Rodgers’ side kept them hemmed in but without little penetration.

And that was what Bjelica noticed as he admitted he made a mistake with his tactics in the first 45 minutes of the match.

“Defensively, we played,” continued Bjelica, “I made a mistake in my assessment of the first half. We let their stopper get the ball in too much, but today he was braver than in the games we analyzed.

“We made an adjustment, and switched to a different system, so we had no more problems. I am also satisfied with the players from the bench. It’s not easy to get into the rhythm of a game like this. We didn’t even have much choice. The 14 players who played were great.

“We will celebrate the New Year among 24 teams. Who would have said that after the first round? That’s great for Croatian football. We will be alive until the last round. Now the focus is the SHNL, we have two games that we have to win.”

A draw was a fair result on reflection. As 67 Hail Hail had written earlier, both teams had chances but neither really threatened much or deserved to take all three points.

Celtic are in a great position to qualify for the unseeded play-off places with Young Boys and Aston Villa to go.

With the struggling Swiss side up at Celtic Park next, the fans will be confident of getting a win to guarantee Champions League football when the league phase concludes in January next year.