BRENDAN RODGERS is determined to make sure he does not suffer a FOURTH consecutive Euro loss at Parkhead this evening.
The Celtic manager completed an unwanted hat-trick when Pedro nodded in the stoppage-time winner for Lazio in the east end of Glasgow earlier this month.
Excruciatingly, that was the third time in succession Rodgers had witnessed his team fail on home soil in the European arena.
The Irishman thought he had at least stopped the rot with the match stalemated at 1-1 deep in stoppage time against the Serie A outfit.
PARADISE – FOR THE TIME BEING…Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda celebrate the opening goal against Lazio. Alas, this was as good as it got against the Italians.
Kyogo Furuhashi, with his first goal in the Champions League group stage, had fired the hosts ahead in the 12th minute, but, unfortunately, some slack defending following a right-wing corner-kick allowed Mateus Vecino to equalise just before the half-hour mark.
Substitute Luis Palma thought he had scored what could have been the winner in the 81st minute, but he was robbed of the strike by VAR in the tightest of offside calls. Six minutes into added-on time, Pedro got on the end of a right-wing cross to cushion a header well wide of the helpless Joe Hart to steal the points for the Italians.
It must have been a familiar feeling for the Celtic manager as the ball nestled in the corner of the net and the Lithuanian referee brought proceedings to a halt only moments later.
The setback against Lazio followed two other disappointing failures. Rodgers saw his players beaten 2-1 by RB Salzburg in front of the Hoops fans in the Europa League group stages on December 13 2018.
STOPPAGE-TIME SICKENER…Pedro leaps above Matt O’Riley to head in the last-gasp winner for Lazio. Joe Hart and Cameron Carter-Vickers are helpless.
Despite the loss to the Austrians, Celtic men won through to the group of 32 where they were then turned over 2-0 by Valencia in Glasgow on February 14 2019.
Rodgers knows it is time to reverse a disturbing trend. A win tonight against Diego Simeone’s side would be a good start.
In all, the 50-year-old team chief has seen Celtic win 11, lose eight and draw three of his 22 matches under the lights in the east end of Glasgow. At the same time, he has seen the Hoops hit 39 goals and concede 27.
THE HOME RECORD
SEASON 2016/17
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Second qualifying round
CELTIC 3 Lincoln Red Imps 0 (Agg: 3-1)
Lustig, Griffiths, Roberts
Third qualifying round
CELTIC 2 Astana 1 (Agg: 3-2)
Griffiths (pen), Dembele (pen)
Play-Off Round
CELTIC 5 Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2 (Agg: 5-4)
Rogic, Griffiths (2), Dembele, Brown
GROUP STAGES
CELTIC 0 Barcelona 2
CELTIC 3 Manchester City 3
Dembele (2), Sterling (og)
CELTIC 0 Borussia Monchengladbach 2
SEASON 2017/18
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Second qualifying round
CELTIC 4 Linfield 0 (Agg: 4-2)
Sinclair (2), Rogic, Armstrong
Third qualifying round
CELTIC 0 Rosenborg 0 (Agg: 1-0)
Play-Off Round
CELTIC 5 Astana 0 (Agg: 8-4)
Postnikov (og), Sinclair (2), Forrest, Shitov (og)
GROUP STAGES
CELTIC 0 PSG 5
CELTIC 1 Bayern Munich 2
McGregor
CELTIC 0 Anderlecht 1
EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 32
CELTIC 1 Zenit St Petersburg 0 (Agg: 1-3)
McGregor
SEASON 2018/19
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
First qualifying round
CELTIC 3 Alashkert 0 (Agg: 6-0)
Dembele 2 (1pen), Forrest
Second qualifying round
CELTIC 3 Rosenborg 1 (Agg: 3-1)
Edouard 2, Ntcham
Third qualifying round
CELTIC 1 AEK Athens 1 (Agg: 2-3)
McGregor
EUROPA LEAGUE PLAY-OFF
CELTIC 3 FK Sudova 0 (Agg: 4-1)
Griffiths, McGregor, Ajer
GROUP STAGES
CELTIC 1 Rosenborg 0
Griffiths
CELTIC 2 RB Leipzig 1
Tierney, Edouard
CELTIC 1 RB Salzburg 2
Ntcham
ROUND OF 32
CELTIC 0 Valencia 2 (Agg: 0-3)
SEASON 2023/24
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGES
CELTIC 1 Lazio 2
Kyogo
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Celtic v Atletico Madrid this evening – only in your champion CQN.
