AFTER three games at Champions League level which have arguably garnered less points than their performances deserved, the Celtic players have quickly learnt what they are lacking at the top level.
A ruthless streak? That could definitely be levelled at them, at both ends of the pitch. But confidence? Matt O’Riley would disagree.
The midfielder says that the fact Celtic have created numerous gilt-edged opportunities in all of their matches so far - even against Real Madrid in their opening game - proves that not only do they have the ability to trouble the best sides in Europe, but that they are right to still be bullish about their chances of progression.
With two home matches now to come against RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk, O’Riley believes there is still justifiable hope that Celtic can climb off the bottom of Group F and take second place, and with it, a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
“There is the confidence,” O’Riley said. “We just need to win our next two home games and see where it puts us. We’ll go from there, really.
“There’s no lack of confidence. I think with the amount of chances we created, there’s no lack of confidence.
“We’ve showed we can play the way we want to play at this level, so there’s no lack of confidence.
“It’s still a great chance. At Celtic Park we’ve got a lot of fans behind us and that’s a good advantage. Even against Leipzig we could hear them a lot. So, I’m looking forward to it.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed with how we got on [on Wednesday] night. But we’re feeling good.”
That good feeling wasn’t evident however after a desperately disappointing second half against RB Leipzig in Germany in midweek, when manager Ange Postecoglou accused his players of retreating into their shell and trying to play safe.
Postecoglou believed that was not only the catalyst for the eventual defeat, but the calamitous individual error from Joe Hart that so turned what had been an even contest to that point in RB Leipzig’s favour.
“I understand what you’re saying, maybe we played backwards at times when we should’ve played forwards,” O’Riley said.
“Especially when it was 1-1 and we had a bit of momentum. There were times when we probably could’ve gone for the kill and we didn’t.
“We probably just have to learn. If you look at quite a lot of our team, there are still a lot of young players out there who haven’t had that much experience in terms of managing games. So, it’s probably that.
“But, again, there’s a lot to learn. But we’ve to learn quick because there’s only three games left.”
One of the obvious lessons from the opening three matches centres upon developing more of a clinical edge up front, and improvement in that area is what holds the key to Celtic’s chances, according to O’Riley.
“I think we had some good chances, especially first half [against RB Leipzig],” he said.
“And we’ve realised now that if we don’t take those chances we’re going to get punished at this level.
“It was similar against Real Madrid and Shakhtar, we had chances in certain periods of the game. It was the same against Leipzig – and to be honest that was the difference.
“It’s just the reality. We did have chances, so it’s not like we’re not creating them. To be honest, that’s a positive. But now we’ve got two home games in a row, so hopefully we’ll create more chances and take them.
“We lost the game. So it’s disappointing for our fans too. It was a good turnout and it was a bit of a way to travel, so it’s disappointing we couldn’t get it over the line.
“I think performance-wise, it wasn’t that bad. I honestly think we showed aspects of our game that we usually do. But we just came up a bit short. Purely because we weren’t ruthless enough and we were a bit sloppy in our own half as well.
“They’re quite an expansive team – aren’t they - the way they play. Both teams had chances. They took more of their chances than we did.
“Naturally we don’t want to let in three goals obviously, that’s probably too many. But at the same time we created enough chances to score at least three ourselves.
“So, I think if we can basically take our chances the next time – we will create them – then hopefully it will be a better outcome.
“It needs to change. We know what we need to do to win the games. That’s the main thing – and now we just need to do it.”
