Despite signing out of the Champions League with a 5-1 defeat Ange Postecoglou gave his players his full backing.
At 5-0 down in the Bernabeu after 70 minutes the final scoreline could have got much worse but the hoops went out with a flourish when Jota finally found a way past Thibaut Courtois with a brilliant free kick.
Four Champions League fixtures over the course of five weeks has taken a heavy toll on the Celtic squad with central defence badly hit.
Last night Carl Starfelt made his first appearance in the competition, Stephen Welsh played the full 90 minutes in Leipzig with loan signing Moritz Jenz the only constant through all six games.
Jota missed two vital home matches while Callum McGregor’s knee injury in Leipzig brought his campaign to a halt.
Postecoglou has a lot of big decisions to make while trying to win the SPFL title, the January transfer window gives him the opportunity to further shape the squad with the goal being to make significant progress in next season’s Champions League.
I never fear the worst. We are still trying to play and I am really proud of our players. We’ve lost 5-1 and we understand that against a fantastic football team but the players never stop trying to play. We created I don’t know how many chances.
Courtois was outstanding. I don’t fear anything with this group of players. We’ve lost to a very good football team but I am still proud of their efforts.
I’ve said before the key for us is to be here every year. I’ve no doubt the players will grow from this. Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate amongst others. They are growing every game. This is their sixth game at this level of football. I’ve no doubt they will be better footballers quite a few of our guys. We will learn from it but only if we qualify again.
