Frustrations for what could have been

There are frustrations for what could have been.  Leipzig did not have us under great pressure at any time in the game, but concentration dropped for three minutes, which settled the outcome.

I initially blamed Dedryck for the opening goal, but on second viewing, the incident was more nuanced.  Eboue Kouassi almost got a touch on the ball, meaning Dedryck waited on the second ball instead of attacking the cross.  Eboue himself only reacted when the Leipzig attacker nearest the right wing failed to get a touch on the ball.

Cristian Gamboa went to ground and didn’t get near the ball for the cross leading to the second goal.  Unforgiveable, but we are parachuting a player into a high level of football when his annual game time is measured in dozens of minutes.

Despite defeats in Germany and Austria, Celtic are not out of contention.  Leipzig are nowhere near as good as Salzburg.  We have beaten better teams than them at a packed Celtic Park.  Get a win next time out, or even a draw, and the remaining fixtures favour us.

By the time we go to Trondheim, Rosenborg will be out of the tournament.  Salzburg end the group at Celtic Park, when they will have already have top spot confirmed, and want to avoid injuries, suspensions and hopefully be keen to give experience to squad players.

I have spoken highly of Jozo for years, but the sight of him leaving the field on a stretcher after going down holding his ankle confirmed any remaining doubt about how appropriate his physical frame is for competitive sport.

Was Brendan resting players with an eye on Sunday?  It looks like it.  Mikael made an appearance from the bench, while Filip Benkovic was also fit enough for the bench.  If these two only have one game in them this week, the semi-final at Murrayfield is the wise choice.