‘Rodgers Is Right’ – Former Celtic Boss Defends Aggressive Approach in Europe

John Barnes has thrown his support behind Brendan Rodgers’ decision to stick with his attacking philosophy in the Champions League, despite Celtic’s recent 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Speaking to Lucky Block, Barnes, who had a brief spell managing Celtic, explained why Rodgers’ approach is the right one for the club, even on the European stage.

Rodgers raised eyebrows after the heavy loss to Dortmund by stating he wouldn’t alter his tactics moving forward, sparking debate over whether his offensive style was naive in Europe. However, Barnes believes Rodgers is right to stay true to his Footballing philosophy, pointing out the challenges of adjusting between domestic dominance and facing Europe’s elite.

“Celtic have got the best team in Scotland. The problem that Celtic have is that they can play like that in Scotland, play well and win. They will be dominant in 99% of their Games in Scotland, so the problem is how to do Celtic adapt or how do they play in the Champions League?

“Celtic have been playing this way every single week, against teams who they should beat and do beat, and then all of a sudden you come up against a new team. What is Brendan supposed to do? He can’t revert to a totally different style for Dortmund away and then change it back for the SPFL.

“Brendan said, ‘We’re going to stick to this and, of course, we’re not going to play Dortmund every week.’

“If Celtic change tactics, it’s not like they’re going to win the Champions League or they’re going to beat the best club teams in Europe. They might not lose 7-1, but Brendan’s team are used to playing in a certain way, it’s what they do, and he won’t change that.

“In the match against Dortmund, yes, it was a poor result, but Dortmund probably had 12 shots in the entire Game and scored seven times.”

When asked about Celtic’s prospects under the new extended Champions League format, Barnes pointed out that aiming for a play-off spot—places ninth to twenty-fourth—should be a realistic goal.

“The new Champions League format, it promotes the fact that the best teams should normally always get into the knock-out stage and it’s going to be mighty difficult for Celtic to finish in that automatic eight, but ninth to twenty-fourth is certainly something that Celtic should be looking to accomplish.

“OK, they lost to Dortmund, but if Celtic beat the teams they should beat, then a play-off spot looks likely.

“Success and failure is determined by who you’re going to play against. People talk about winning your home Games in the Champions League, but are Celtic going to beat Real Madrid at Celtic Park? It’s unlikely.

“Celtic need to beat the teams they should be beating – and there are a few of them left to play – and they should be able to do so by playing how Brendan sets his team up to play.”

After the match against Atalanta, Celtic will have played three Games in the comPetition.

They finished matchday one in second place, with a 5-1 win over Bratislava, but slipped down the table after their 7-1 loss in Germany.

The Bhoys will be looking for a result in Italy to keep them up with the rest of the pack, knowing that every point could count by full-time on matchday 8.