3 Takeaways from Celtic’s win in Norway
James Forrest was the hero of the night as he fired Celtic into the play-off round of the Champions League.
It was truly a historic night for the hoops. In years gone by they may have stumbled away from home to a team like Rosenborg but they kept their cool and ran out deserved winners on the night.
The nervous tension felt by every Celtic fan watching could be cut with a knife, that was until Forrest slammed home the 69th minute winner which was a goal fit to win any European tie.
What exactly have we learned from this game though? Here are my three takeaways.
We have some ‘bottle’
To say that under previous managers Celtic have looked lackluster away from home in Europe would be an understatement. From truly embarrassing showings against the likes of Artmedia Bratislava and Aalborg to downright spineless performances against Legia Warsaw, Celtic fans have been more than patient with their teams failings to compete and sometimes even try in European competition.
This type of mentality seems to have disappeared under Brendan Rodgers. Celtic are on paper a much better team than Rosenborg however, with the last decade of failings in Europe still fresh in the mind of hoops supporters this game was viewed as a potential banana skin for the bhoys. Thankfully this was not the case.
Like last year when the hoops where up against it in several games having to overturn away game deficits against Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Lincoln Red Imps, they dug deep and with a seemingly new found sense of belief that the manager has instilled in them they got over the line. I can sense a similar feeling emanating from this game in which the bhoys turned up and against a raucous home crowd and a decent team, done their job.
We need more depth
The goalscorer of the evening James Forrest will reap the plaudits for Celtic’s progression into the next round and rightfully so. In the process of giving this praise however we must not lose sight of the fact that the winger shouldn’t really have been in the position to begin with.
Dembele and Griffiths were hurt and that is nobodys fault of course, but surely if we want to progress to the next level the club need to have some decent cover in case a similar situation should arise.
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Rodgers has come out in the past week and explained why it is so hard to attract a third striker of real quality to the SPFL. Especially when said striker would play third fiddle to the two main strikers.
I struggle to accept this as a reasonable explanation from the manager. There are plenty of decent strikers playing in the EFL championship and abroad who would no doubt jump at the chance to play European football with the Celtic Park crowd roaring behind them.
Unfortunately the need for bodies extends beyond the final third of the field. As shown tonight by Sviatchenko’s departure and Nir Bitton being his replacement, the need for an experienced center back was obvious. I really hope we can get both positions sorted before the window closes.
Nothing to fear in the next round
After the final whistle sounded in Norway like most Celtic fans I was frantically flicking threw my phone on UEFA websites and checking scores to find our potential opponents in the next round.
In the playoff round Celtic can play any of the following teams. Slavia Prague, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Rijeka, Qarabag or Astana.
Having beaten three of these teams in recent years and drawn with Slavia in pre-season I firmly believe that the hoops have absolutely nothing to fear now that we are 180 minutes from the promised land.