Brendan Rodgers favourite slammed by Celtic fans

FBL-EUR-C1-CELTIC-CLUB BRUGGE
FBL-EUR-C1-CELTIC-CLUB BRUGGE | PAUL ELLIS/GettyImages

As a Celtic fan, you can never really complain about an away draw in the Champions League but the performance against Dinamo Zagreb did leave a lot to be desired. The Hoops had the lion's share of the possession, almost 70 per cent, but they could manage only one shot on goal. That is nowhere near good enough.

The result leaves them with nine points after the opening six games. Not a bad return at all and playoff hopes are still alive. But it does make things a lot tighter.

They are now under pressure to get something against Aston Villa and definitely need to win the BSC YB game at Parkhead if they are to make it to the next phase of the competition. You can expect the likes of Manchester City, PSG, Real Madrid and Juventus to get results in the last few games. Can Celtic?

One Celtic player who did not impress on the night was Reo Hatate. The regular starter was heavily criticised by the fans following the result.

Brendan Rodgers favourite slammed by Celtic fans

One Celtic fan tweeted out regarding the Japanese midfielder: "We put ourselves at huge disadvantage persisting with Engels and Hatate. Looking at Hatate I think he's a player who has lost interest in football. The amount of times we are turned over because of him is beyond a joke."

Another wrote: "Hatate needs dropped, been off it for weeks. Would play Bernardo ahead of him, he had a great performance against them in September."

Again, reactions after results like this can get a bit reactionary. Hatate was one of Celtic's best players when they won against RB Leipzig in the Champions League earlier this season.

This is not the first time that fans have wanted Hatate to be dropped either. Brendan Rodgers did leave him on the bench in the game against Borussia Dortmund away at Signal Iduna Park and we all know how that turned out.

Yes, Hatate is someone who has off games here and there. But then, he is also one of the few who has proven that he can deliver against top-level opposition in the Champions League. Those are the kind of players that you need to stick with, as they are capable of pulling off something magical.