Coach explains why Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic struggled in Europe

Ange Postecoglou must be keen to take his Celtic side up a level in their European performances and results next season. There is a key step up his side must adjust to if that is to happen though. Even for the Scottish giants it can be a huge task, and a former club coach has revealed what he viewed as the problem to overcome based on his own experience at Parkhead.

Chris Davies was Brendan Rodgers’ assistant at Celtic for a very successful spell. The pair had worked successfully before at the likes of Swansea City and Liverpool.

So it was no surprise when Rodgers brought Davies to Glasgow to work alongside him. And their time at the club proved to be a historical success domestically.

When it came to European football, that success just did not end up translating though. Why? As reported by The Coaches’ Voice, Davies said:

"“We were often playing against the best – Manchester City (below), Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG – and we had some memorable nights in Europe.“I do think it’s difficult to be so dominant on a weekly basis in the league, often having 70 per cent of the ball, and then adapt to play such different games in Europe. It’s like a different sport. Moving in a block, and constantly running to cut off passing lines and keep your shape against the best teams in the world. It’s just so different to the way Celtic are used to playing on a weekly basis, where they are the protagonist. It was the two ends of the footballing spectrum, and it was challenging to adapt to that. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make any real progress in Europe as a result.”"

Coach explains why Rodgers’ Celtic struggled in Europe

There is quite a contrast in playing styles from domestic football in Scotland to the challenge of competing with top clubs such as Real Madrid, as was the case this season. It is surely a challenge that Postecoglou will recognise.

To be fair, even getting into the Champions League group stages this season was a massive boost. Previously the focus had been on rebuilding the squad, firstly to ensure domestic success after the disaster that was the 2020/21 campaign. With that achieved there was just the summer transfer window to continue the rebuild with Europe in mind.

The club have since taken further opportunities to strengthen the squad and we can expect more movement over the summer. You would expect some of the signings to be made with European football in mind and players who can adapt to the different needs on the pitch.