Stiliyan Petrov highlighted Celtic defender Mikael Lustig after his poor display against AEK Athens
Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League in the qualifying rounds on Tuesday night and club legend Stiliyan Petrov was critical of defender Mikael Lustig for his display.
The Bhoys lost 2-1 on the night in Greece, meaning they bowed out of Europe’s elite club competition 3-2 on aggregate and will now face a qualifier to get into the Europa League group stages.
Brendan Rodgers’ side were well in the game for the most part, but were stunned by goals from Rodrigo Galo and Marko Livaja as AEK Athens exploited Celtic’s defensive frailties.
Substitute Scott Sinclair gave the visitors late hope in the contest with his goal, but the Scottish giants will not compete in the Champions League group stages for the first time since Rodgers joined.
Petrov ripped into the Celtic backline as a whole for their performance, highlighting Lustig as one in particular that struggled.
The 31-year-old was unable to block a cross in the build up to the first goal, while he also lost his man in the penalty area from a free-kick for the second.
“It has been a problem in European games, the defence has been the weakest point in this team,” during the televised coverage of Celtic v AEK Athens on BT Sport 2 (9:00pm, 14 August).
“To be honest today the defence didn’t have to defend. It was two very sloppy moments that cost the tie for Celtic.
“For a number of times today and the previous games I think his (Lustig) position was wrong. I think awareness as well in the box. Letting the striker have a free header in the box is unacceptable at this level.”
Lustig is an experienced defender that is a mainstay in the starting XI, but the Sweden international was caught out in some pivotal moments against AEK Athens.
Celtic now turn their attention to Partick Thistle at the weekend in a Scottish League Cup second round clash.
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