"Beyond midnight, many miles beyond the borders of Europe, Temirlan Anarbekov was writing his name into Celtic infamy. The 21yearold rookie goalkeeper had made the penalty shootout saves that guided Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty into the Champions League group stage. Adam Idah, Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda each saw attempts saved by a keeper turned to in emergency. Kasper Schmeichel, his opposite number, could only offer congratulations as Celtic incurred the heavy cost of a poor performance over 210 goalless minutes before their lack of composure from the spot."
"The Celtic board's unpopular decision to wait for transfer business until Champions League qualification was banked now looks prudent. But would an injection of fresh attacking talent have made a difference? Where does this failure leave Brendan Rodgers's reign? To Celtic, reaching the elite competition would have been worth four times the qualification revenue and win bonuses of the Europa League. Instead, history and destiny lie with Kairat."
"A bitterly disappointed Rodgers fronted up. It's very frustrating, he said, harking back a year ago. We showed a glimpse of what we can do at this level. But we haven't been able to show that over the course of these two games. Domestic dominance had allowed rotation from a weekend win against Livingston but a lack of quality peers is suboptimal for a key engagement so early in a season. That lack of fresh talent had caused fretting among Bhoys supporters, 300 of whom had travelled 3,500 miles to Central Asia."
Temirlan Anarbekov, a 21yearold rookie goalkeeper, saved penalties to send Kairat Almaty into the Champions League group stage, denying Celtic after two 0-0 matches. Celtic failed to score across 210 minutes and missed three spot-kicks from Adam Idah, Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda, while Kasper Schmeichel could only congratulate the opposition keeper. The club's decision to delay transfer business until Champions League qualification now appears justified but highlighted a lack of attacking depth. Celtic forfeited substantially higher Champions League revenue, travelling fans voiced anger, and calls to sack the board followed ahead of the Old Firm derby.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]