Celtic have once again seen an early exit from the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds. Here are how the players fared.
Celtic have once again failed to reach the UEFA Champions League Group Stage after seeing an early exit from the qualifying rounds. The loss comes at the hands of Ferencvaros, who while talented, should not be in a similar conversation as the Hoops.
There were plenty of parallels with this match as there were with last season’s exit against CFR Cluj. In both ties, Celtic manager Neil Lennon inexplicably decided to play players out of position in hopes of overcoming challenges of missing players. Callum McGregor played at left-back against CFR Cluj while Ryan Christie played as the front man against Ferencvaros.
However, Christie seemed to be the lone highlight for the Hoops on Wednesday as he scored the club’s only goal. However, his presence could have been used in the midfield whose performance was lackluster. Furthermore, by not putting Patryk Klimala in to start the match a clear message was sent that he is not trusted to start in these situations despite impressive showings early as well as doing everything asked of him during the offseason.
Additionally, there were some highs and lows when it came to the defence on Wednesday evening. Kristoffer Ajer actually looked good, meanwhile Vasilis Barkas was questionable. This was by far one of the most disappointing moments for the club since Copenhagen last season.