It wasn’t quite a modern-day ‘Boozegate’ as Brendan Rodgers afforded his players the opportunity to relax with a beer after their agonising Champions League exit to Bayern Munich, but it was, the Celtic manager feels, an important opportunity to reflect after the exertions – and achievements – of their Champions League campaign.
The Celtic squad stayed the night in Munich after their hugely creditable showing in the Allianz Arena, and Rodgers took the opportunity to allow his players to unwind after Alphonso Davies’ sickening stoppage time goal had knocked the stuffing out of them, and ultimately knocked them out of the tournament.
It was vital, in Rodgers view, to not only take the sting out of that disappointment, but also to press home a little perspective to his players, and remind them of just how far they have come on their journey from the drubbing in Dortmund, and despite the eventual misery in Munich.
“I said the players after the game, you can hold your head up so proud because of the level the opponent,” Rodgers said.
“What you look for in this game is respect, and you'll come off the pitch and those guys will respect you for what you did over the couple of games.
“But I said to the players, for us to be sat here, feeling like this, it really shows how far you've come.
“I looked in their eyes after the Dortmund game and that was a real tough one. So, it just showed you the mentality and the resilience and the grit that this team have.
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“They overcame that, recovered from the setback and then pushed on and we went back to the hotel, we had a beer and then got back to training the next day.
“They very rarely get the chance to do that. Don't worry, it wasn't a typical Scottish night out! It was a nice, relaxed beer and a wine and then we trained the next day, stayed overnight, getting ready for Hibs.
“It's very important that you can just reflect a little bit and relax and think about the moments within the game and the performance, but very quickly you have to move on.
“Obviously the performance merited that [respect] and what the players gave. Obviously, a lot of nice things were said and compliments, which is great. It will give us again the feeling going forward that we can push on.
“We always respect everything that comes our way when people recognise a performance at that level. It's in the past now.”
Before moving on to Hibs at Easter Road though and the domestic job that Celtic still have to finish off this term, Rodgers could reflect a little on his own achievements in Europe’s elite competition this season, silencing as he has more than a few critics who felt he couldn’t get results at such a level with this side.
“Without being arrogant, I always feel I can do that,” he said.
“I think I've done that in my career, I've won big games. When I was here the first time, the reality is maybe our squad wasn't built for that. Domestically we were very good, and it was a challenge then for us going into European football.
“That's the way life is and the way the game is. For me, I'm not really too bothered about what people think or would say. My focus is very clear on helping this club progress at that level and have credibility in Europe.
“That's what I wanted to achieve, and I think we've done that this season. Now we've got to hopefully sustain that over the coming seasons.”
Rodgers will be hoping there is no Champions League hangover when his team travel to Easter Road for tomorrow’s lunchtime kick off, and he has no fresh injury concerns, but he is wary of a side who have improved recently under David Gray.
“They are obviously going to be high in confidence,” he said.
“They have picked up over the past few months really well. I'm delighted for David. I think I mentioned here the last time when I spoke that managers need time, and especially young managers coming in. They need that time.
“But he's turned it around really, really well. They look like a team that's got confidence, they're very happy in the structure of how they play. They get the ball forward quickly, they get it wide, they get crosses in the box.
“So, we know there's going to be moments where we have to defend the game. But for us, we want the three points, so we know we have to go and get them.”
