Mikael Lustig says Celtic need to “get back on the horse” after Tuesday’s Champions League qualifying defeat to AEK Athens.
Celtic drew the first leg at Parkhead 1-1 and that meant the Scottish champions had to score in Greece if they were to stand any chance of progressing to the play-off round.
The Bhoys ended up losing 2-1 on the night and the 3-2 aggregate defeat means Brendan Rodgers’ side will be playing in the Europa League this season instead of the Champions League.
Celtic have now lost two matches in a row, having gone down 1-0 to Hearts last Saturday, and the manager’s future is up in the air after he criticised the club for failing to bring in his transfer targets this summer.
Forward Odsonne Edouard was brought in on a permanent deal from Paris Saint-Germain whilst goalkeeper Scott Bain and left-back Emilio Izaguirre were both snapped up on free transfers.
Sweden international Lustig admits the loss in Athens has been difficult to accept, but he has called on his team-mate to rally ahead of Saturday’s League Cup clash at Partick Thistle.
“I think we played good football both home and away, but we needed to score more and we needed to defend better,” he was quoted as saying by Celtic Quick News.
“It was hard to take, but you need to bounce back – that’s what makes a team a really good team.
“We have lost two games in a row and we need to get back on the horse.”
Celtic are heavy 1.22 favourites to pick up the win, a draw is priced at 5.50 whilst Partick are 11.00 outsiders to cause a huge upset.
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet