Celtic 'punished' by Champions League after what expert spotted

Celtic and West Ham legend Frank McAvennie joined the Football Insider stable in June 2020 and has not disappointed with his own brand of unique punditry. He loves talking football almost as much as he loved scoring goals, and still has close links in the dressing room at Parkhead.

Published on:

08 Oct 2023, 7:30 am

Playing in the Scottish Premiership is hindering Celtic from making progress in Europe.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former Hoops striker Frank McAvennie claimed the Celts "get away with" making mistakes in domestic competitions but that those same mistakes get them punished in Europe.

Brendan Rodgers' side suffered a 2-1 defeat to Lazio in the second game of their Champions League group stage campaign.

Despite being level for 90 minutes, the Hoops fell victim to a last-gasp winner from Pedro deep into injury time leaving them without a single point in the group so far.

Rodgers now faces an uphill battle if his side are in with any chance of European football after the winter break.

Losing in Europe is a common theme for the Celts, having won just one of their last 23 Champions League games and their last home victory came against Ajax ten years ago.

When asked what he made of the performance against Lazio, McAvennie told Football Insider: "I think he has got the makings of a really good team there.

"The problem is people come to Celtic Park now and they are loving it.

"We were the better team against Lazio but you have got to convert chances.

"The problem with playing in Scotland is that if you make a mistake you might not get punished for it, whereas in Europe you are getting punished all the time and that is what happened, we made mistakes and we were punished.

"The boys will be gutted."

In other news, winger wants to quit Celtic for good after talks with chiefs.

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