Ange Postecoglou insists it’s his job to lead Celtic to the Champions League group stage EVERY season and then prove they can really compete with the cream of the continent.
The Hoops boss was left gutted after his side crashed out of Europe with a game to spare in Group F following last night’s 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in Glasgow. Giorgios Giakoumakis fired Celts in to a first half lead to keep the Parkhead men’s faint hopes of claiming the Europa League spot alive.
But Donetsk dangerman Mkhaylo Mudryk slammed a sensation leveller in the second period to leave Celtic condemned to finishing bottom of the section with next week’s Real Madrid clash in the Bernabeu to come. Postecoglou admitted his disappointment at a campaign that was positive in patches – but punishing in other spells. The Aussie boss was adamant his men were able to compete with the best – but he vowed to make sure Celts are regulars at the very top level.
Postecoglou said: “It’s about experience and striving to improve. The boys are in the dressing room feeling flat and that shows where our ambitions lie. It’s our first time here in five years. We know the areas we have fallen short in this campaign and the areas we need to improve in.
“But that only comes with experience and the task is to take what we’ve learned in to next year. We have to be in this competition every year if we really want to make an impact.
“You can’t go five years without being in it and then come in and expect to make an impact at this level. That’s our challenge, that’s what I mean about becoming a Champions League football club. We need to be there every year.
“My job is to make sure we are there every year and keep chipping away at it and trying to make an impact.”
It was a familiar tale of woe for Celts last night as their failure to strike when on top came back to haunt them again. The Hoops were in control at 1-0 but were caught in possession and ruthlessly punished by superb run and finish from world class Mudryk.
Postecoglou admitted it was a similar story in clashes with Real Madrid and Leipzig – as well as the away tie with Shakhtar – and there were some painful lessons to be learned. But the Celtic gaffer insisted his men are not far off and he said: “I’m obviously disappointed we didn’t make more of an impact. We set out to play a certain way and be as bold as we can be.
“Credit to the players, they’ve done that. All I can ask of them is to measure themselves against the best There’s nothing we have encountered that we were not expecting. It is a tough level of football, it is the hardest level of football.
“You have to take the opportunities when they are presented and that’s where we fell short. If I am sitting here at the end of drubbings after every game, then I think those kinds of questions are fair.
“But we have gone out there with an intent to do something which I think we have done and we have fallen short. We are disappointed obviously. Thinking that we were not prepared or that somehow we were thinking it was going to be something different – we knew exactly what we were encountering and our approach was to test ourselves. I think we have done that.
“If anyone thinks we have been outplayed or outclassed, I don’t agree. We have fallen short in areas we need to improve in, absolutely. We realise that because we have tested ourselves against the best opposition.”
Celts now face a dead rubber at Real Madrid – but it won’t be meaningless for Postecoglou. He said: "We keep chipping away. It's another chance to test ourselves in the Bernabeu against a very good team.”
