Ange Postecoglou admitted Celtic “lost our composure a bit” after conceding the first goal against Real Madrid as the holders dished out a harsh lesson on the Parkhead side’s Champions League group stage return.
The Aussie admitted the Group F opener was settled by fine margins as the Hoops failed to take their chances and were punished by the clinical Spaniards and 14-time winners of the competition. And there's no time to rest with the next clash coming against Shakhtar in eight days' time.
Liel Abada had a couple of early chances, Daizen Maeda also squandered a good opportunity and skipper Callum McGregor was desperately unlucky not to break the deadlock when his effort cracked off the inside of the post and bounced out. Postecoglou’s men were then punished as Carlo Ancelotti’s side rattled in three goals in the second half and the Parkhead boss told BT Sport: “When the first goal went in we lost our composure a bit and they’ve got the quality to punish you.
“You’re not going to get too many chances and we created really good ones and we hit the post as well. That’s the fine margins and they’re good enough to capitalise. The first goal was always going to be crucial because it would have required the opposition to take some risks.
“They controlled the game really well after they scored and we had to chase the game a little bit which leaves spaces. But we did not too bad. Up until the first goal we were well in the game and probably had the better opportunities. We handled their threats really well and caused them some problems.
“We competed well. We had our moments which we didn’t capitalise on and that’s something the boys will learn from.
“This is a really special football club and they showed again tonight why it's so special and our responsibility is to give them a team they can be proud of and can compete at this level every year and that’s our aim.”
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