Celtic certainly did not disgrace themselves during the six games in the competition.
Mikael Lustig has suggested that Celtic’s only disappointment from their Champions League campaign was the defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach at Parkhead, the Evening Times reports.
Brendan Rodgers’ men finished at the bottom of their group and failed to win a single game. However, given the stature of the teams they faced – Manchester City and Barcelona were also drawn into Group C – they certainly did not disgrace themselves.
They were unbeaten against the Citizens and secured a point away in Germany. And while their campaign did not get off to the best start – as they were soundly beaten 7-0 by Barcelona – Lustig suggested that it was not the Nou Camp thrashing but rather the home defeat against Gladbach that hurts the most.
“I think we feel as though we have shown improvements as the campaign has gone on. The only one we would be annoyed about is the home game against Borussia Monchengladbach,” he said, as reported by the Evening Times.
Borussia Monchengladbach’s Lars Stindl scores their first goal against Celtic
“That is the one game where we should have taken something. We gave them two goals and we just didn’t play the way we can, especially at home. That is the one regret.”
Had they avoided defeat against the Bundesliga side, and perhaps secured a draw, they would have gone into the last round of fixtures in pole position to finish third and secure that Europa League spot.
Had they actually won that game, they would have travelled to the Etihad on Tuesday with a chance of still qualifying for the knockout stages. And given the chances they created against Pep Guardiola’s side, it would have perhaps not been out of the question to suggest that a massive upset may have been on the cards.
Celtic’s Mikael Lustig in action with Manchester City’s Leroy Sane
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