Ange Postecoglou’s mood was very different after Celtic’s 3-1 defeat from RB Leipzig compared to his side’s two previous Champions League ties.
Against Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk there were definite signs that this squad of players is quickly adapting to the demands of playing at the highest level in European football.
After 48 minutes in Germany Celtic were deservedly on level terms with Leipzig but what followed Jota’s equaliser alarmed the hoops boss, culminating in Joe Hart’s error to gift the lead to Leipzig.
Being brave in possession is at the heart of the way that Postecoglou wants his side to play, that was posted missing in the second half last night with the Celtic boss looking deeper than Hart’s disastrous pass that allowed Andre Silva to put his side in front.
The Daily Record reports Postecoglou saying:
It’s not about the mistake. It’s about before then. We had a lot of the ball, but were just passing it back to him.
You are doing what you think is safe, but it’s not really who we are. In the first half, we played balls that were on and sometimes we’d make a mistake and that was okay because we were trying to be positive. I just felt after we scored we almost settled for that and kept passing the ball back to him. A mistake is a mistake. It’s not about that it’s about what the lead up to that was.
We kept giving it back to Joe for no reason. For us to get over this hump of being a good side and having results is about having a really strong belief and mentality. It’s not easy to do. I could see it coming. If it wasn’t Joe making the mistake, it would have been somebody else.
When you get into survival mode, the best you are going to do is survive. When you come away from home in a game like this, when you’ve fought so hard to claw your way back into it, you don’t want to survive. You want to sustain a positive mindset. That’s how you affect the opposition and make them uncomfortable.
There is virtually no time on the training ground for Celtic to work on things, on Saturday they face St Johnstone with Leipzig at Celtic Park three days later.