Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou challenged his players to show more resilience as they prepare to take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. Celtic showed played some positive football against defending champions Real Madrid but were not able to find the net in a 3-0 defeat. Carlo Ancelotti admitted that his side was not at their best in the first half.
“I was a bit frustrated and disappointed because it’s not just about playing our football for a certain amount of time. I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t have done that for longer,” Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou said. “In the context of who we were playing against, I understand that you are playing against one of the best teams in the world at the moment, maybe the best. And for us to be able to match them by playing our football was encouraging, but I didn’t see any reason why that couldn’t continue beyond the time it did. Looking back, the disappointing thing was, when we conceded, we conceded again quickly. There was no need to.”
“If we had hung in the game there’s always the chance to create again and just because you concede to them, an unbelievable team, we should have just got back to it and kept playing our football. In the end, we lose 3-0,” he added. “As encouraging as it was, for me, we could have been more competitive for longer in that game. But that’s the level we are at. We want to compete at this level, that’s what you’ve got to do. At this level, 60 minutes is never going to be enough. You have to make sure you see the game out and be resilient when you need to. It’s a Champions League game, we know it’s going to be tough.”
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