Ange Postecoglou insists he has nothing to fear with his Celtic players despite finishing with the club’s lowest ever Champions League group stage total. The Parkhead gaffer watched his side torn apart by Euro kings Real Madrid to finish Group F with a crushing 5-1 defeat.
But the Aussie is adamant his players have grown throughout their six games in UEFA’s premier tournament despite finishing with just two points from their draws against Shakhtar Donetsk as he saluted his troops for their bravery in trying to be positive in the Santiago Bernabeu.
Celtic again misfired in front of goal with Josip Juranovic missing a glorious chance to half the deficit when his penalty was saved by Thibaut Courtois after Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos netted a couple of early spot kicks of their own, both awarded for handball.The Spaniards turned the screw in the second half as they stepped up the gears and netted three times with substitute Jota scoring an exquisite late free kick for a consolation. Postecoglou, though, said: “I don’t fear for anything with this group of players. At the end of the day we lost to a very good football team but I’m still proud of their efforts. The key for us is to be here every year and I have no doubt the players have grown from this.
“If you look at some of our players, Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate, amongst others, they’re growing in every game. This is their sixth game of football at this level and I have no doubt they will be better footballers and we’ll learn from it.
“If we perform like we have been we’ll be hard to stop in the league. It took an enormous effort for our boys to try and match one of the best football teams in the world but if we go in there with that intent every week we’ll be hard to stop. It’s just disappointment for the fans and players. I wanted to get more rewards for our efforts and our fans a bit more joy but I’m certainly not disheartened and believe we’re on the right track.
“They're a fantastic football team and have some real quality. From our perspective we didn’t start the game too badly but they got the two penalties. We hung in there and at 2-0 we got our penalty and 2-1 might not have change the outcome but it would have given us more belief and put them under real pressure.
“It’s been the story of our campaign but ultimately they were too good for us - they’re a good side. I never fear the worst because we were still trying to play. I’m really proud of our players. We’ve lost 5-1 against a fantastic football team and we understand that but the players never stopped trying to play and we created I don’t know how many chances. Thibaut Courtois was outstanding.”
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