'It Was Important To Win, And To Win Well Was Even More Pleasing'

A Word With The Manager.

- Tony Connelly

LAST week Celtic, as they have done so often under Brendan Rodgers, showed their character and resilience when they responded with aplomb to their midweek Europa League disappointment.

They not only returned to winning ways in the league, they did it with a style and vigour which will likely strike fear into the rest of the Scottish Premiership.

There was no doubt that there was a step-up in the quality of European opposition Celtic faced last week, given that FC Salzburg are unbeaten at home in all competitions for two years now, they’ve won their opening nine fixtures of this domestic season, and they reached last season’s Europa League semi-final.

And so it proved on the night as, despite taking an early lead through Odsonne Edouard, Celtic conceded three second-half goals to lose the group-stage game.

“The best team won, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” the manager told the Celtic View. “They got in front and our biggest issue was ball retention. We didn’t hold on to the ball well enough. That never gives you a break. At this level you have to be able to secure the ball and play with limited touches in order to have a rest. We weren’t able to do that.”