The results might have been similarly sore but the contrast in reactions at the end could not have been more different. Gio van Bronckhorst confessed it would take hundreds of millions for Rangers to compete in the Champions League.
Ange Postecoglou made no mention of money, only his burning desire to prove his Celtic side can provide a bang for their buck among Europe’s elite. The difference didn’t go unnoticed by fans of both clubs. Van Bronckhorst – already copping flak for the Old Firm demolition – was understandably searching for excuses after Ajax gave his men the runaround.
Postecoglou could have been forgiven for patting his team on the back for giving Real Madrid a run for their money. Instead, the Aussie seemed almost downbeat his Celts couldn’t find a way to maintain the sensational start and actually defeat the European champions. There’s no guarantee Celtic’s stance will be successful in this campaign but there’s no doubt they won’t change for any one.
The manager has imprinted a no excuses mantra in the club’s DNA and star men such as Jota are all in. The message from the boss at the end in a despondent dressing room the other night was simple.
“Stick to our principles, keep working hard,” Jota explained. “We have plenty of games to go and that is what we are going to do. I don’t want to stop here, I just want to keep improving.
“We don’t compare ourselves with the other teams. We compare ourselves with each other and just think about each other, that’s the most important thing. We just need to focus on ourselves, see what mistakes we did and go strong in the next one.
“This is a Celtic team, we always want to win of course, but we know that in the Champions League there are very difficult games. Real Madrid is a top, top team, one of the best in the world, so now I think we just have to learn from our mistakes and go on to the next one.
“Well, we knew that we had to have personality inside the pitch, we needed to remain humble and just to play our game and that’s what we tried to do. We know that we had our chances, we didn’t score, and we know that when these teams have their chances they take them, and that’s it. Next time, we just need to take ours.”
It’s not often a side can lose 3-0 and still feel optimistic about the challenges ahead, but that’s what the performance against Madrid did the other night. jota said: “I just can’t wait until the next one to get better and to get better results. We’ll take confidence, we work hard every day to play against these teams, this is our aim – so, we are just going to keep on working hard and try to get better results.”
It was a bittersweet experience for the Portuguese ace. The end result didn’t go Celtic’s way but the return to the big stage didn’t disappoint. Parkhead was rocking – as were Real in that frantic first half – and it was an evening to savour.
Jota said: “This is what dreams are made of. When I was young I used to see them on TV and I would say to myself, ‘One day I want to be playing Champions League with these guys and compete against them.’ It was a very happy day for me and my family because I got the opportunity to do that against some of the best players in the world.
“It was definitely something unbelievable to play in this stadium with this atmosphere and this crowd in the Champions League. So, we just want to make our supporters happy, and we promise that every time we go out onto the pitch we are going to give everything for the shirt.”
Speaking of supporters, the wall of noise all night didn’t go unnoticed by Jota. He said: “It speaks loudly about Celtic and what this football club is. I’m just grateful to belong to this club. The support from the fans from every minute of this game shows that it is amazing.
“We are just grateful to have this support from everyone, and the one thing we can promise them is that we will work hard every day to try to deliver them results.”
Celtic fans are already eyeballing Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. They perhaps should be wary as the Ukrainians got off to a flier in Germany with their 4-1 win against RB Leipzig resulting in Red Bull chiefs swiftly telling boss Dominic Tedesco to collect his belongings and clear his desk.
Jota isn’t even thinking about Shakhtar yet, with tomorrow’s Premiership test against Livingston the sole priority as Celts look to maintain their stranglehold over domestic matters. As for getting out of the Champions League group, Jota said: “It’s too early for that.
"We think about game after game, so now we just need to think about the league game, and then we will worry about the Champions League after that. That’s the secret. That’s really how we think. People often think that the only important thing is the Champions League, but it’s not. Every game counts for us. Now we are just going to rest and recover and think of the league game.”
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