ANGE POSTECOGLOU has bristled at suggestions Celtic are not equipped to play at Europe’s elite level.
The Hoops boss has seen his side lose three and draw one of their four Champions League games to topple out of the competition with two games still to play.
The Greek-Australian gaffer has witnessed his side pass up a procession of opportunities in all four outings while Callum McGregor, Matt O’Riley and Greg Taylor have all struck the woodwork with a variety of efforts.
There have been some wretched misses at crucial stages in the matches against Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, twice, and Shakhtar Donetsk that have come back to cost the team team dear.
OH, NO…Ange Postecoglou can hardly bear to look as Celtic pass up another opportunity against RB Leipzig.
With an encounter against the Ukrainians due at Parkhead a week on Tuesday and the final match against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu scheduled for November 2, the Hoops’ hopes of Europa League football are hanging by a thread.
Asked if it is beneficial for his team to be involved in the Champions League, Postecoglou replied: “As opposed to just not being involved at all?
“So, what you’re saying is that we play domestic competition and just ignore everything else? I get your question and I understand the whole… living here for 18 months now I’ve seen the Scottish national team go from heroes to no-hopers to heroes again.
“So, I get this whole boom-bust cycle, and getting to here and the whole ‘woe is me’. We’re not the only country that struggles to get results at Champions League level.”
Postecoglou, speaking to the media, added: “I can only talk for my club, but if anyone can tell me that from the four games we’ve played that we don’t deserve to be there, or that we’ve been outplayed or looked out of place, then I reckon they’re talking from an agenda or some sort of bias.
OH, NO…Kyogo Furuhashi looks distraught after firing a header over the RB Leipzig bar.
“The questions I’ve had after each of our games is about opportunities missed.
“The ‘opportunities missed’ suggests that we’ve got to improve some areas for sure, but doesn’t say that we somehow don’t belong in a competition that we’ve earned the right to be in.”
Celtic get back to points-collecting when Hibs visit Parkhead tomorrow afternoon where a victory will push the title-holders five points ahead at the Premiership pinnacle.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox side, routed 7-1 by Liverpool in Glasgow in midweek, are due to play Motherwell at Fir Park at noon on Sunday.
