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'We can bridge that gap in quality' - Brendan Rodgers confident Celtic can become established Champions League club
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Published 28/11/2023 at 10:57 GMT
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is not losing faith in his side's ability to make their mark in the UEFA Champions League during his tenure at the club. The Scottish champions have proven to be a force domestically but have struggled to find their feet in Europe but Rodgers is confident there is enough talent in the squad to "bridge the gap" and become an establish team in Europe's top competition.
'You need quality' - Rodgers on closing gap to European rivals at Celtic
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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes his team can "bridge the gap in quality" and improve their results in the Champions League in the long-term during his time at the club.
The Scottish champions have only managed to earn one point and score three goals from four matches this season in the Champions League.
Celtic face a tough trip to Serie A club Lazio on Tuesday knowing that they need a win in Italy to stand any chance of staying in the competition.
They sit at the top of the Scottish Premiership table without a defeat in 14 matches but Rodgers said his side need more time and experience before that fine form translates into Europe.
"It's two ways. It develops through the experience of the players," Rodgers told TNT Sports ahead of the Lazio clash.
"There's lots of young players in the squad over these last couple of years getting experience at this level so our challenge as a club is to be in the Champions League as often as we possibly can so that experience gives you the opportunity to grow and develop.
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Atletico Madrid v Celtic – UEFA Champions League highlights
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"And obviously quality. It's not rocket science, to play at this level you need to have quality. That's something that over the course of hopefully my time here we can bridge that gap in quality in certain areas of the field that allows you to compete. And not just to compete but to win games."
The manner of the defeats has also hurt Celtic this season after they conceded a last-minute goal in their 2-1 home loss to Lazio while they suffered a 6-0 thrashing at Atletico Madrid earlier this month.
Despite their poor form in Europe, Rodgers is adamant that Celtic should not change their style of play when competing in the Champions League.
"People talk about pragmatism but for me, it's about adaptability," Rodgers explained.
"We play and train how we want to play so we want to play an intense game, we want to play a fast game but anytime you're playing, you're going to have games especially at this level where you have to be in balance and you have to be able to defend well.
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'The last chance we have' - Celtic's Scales looks ahead to Lazio test
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"I'm certainly not going to look to camp the team deep in the half because a lot of the times at this level you may lose and I'd rather lose playing how we want to play and going out with that dignity and stand and fight for what we want to play.
"But there's no doubt that you also have to use your brain. You can't turn games into basketball games. We want to play with an educated pressure in the game and we want to play how we can and I think we've shown that we can do. But there's little details at this level, both against the ball and with the ball that makes the difference.
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