IT was something of an irony that on a night when Celtic refused to play long balls, it was a prehistoric punt which enabled Bayern Munich to take the lead.
Even when they fell behind, Brendan Rodgers’s men stuck to their manager’s principle of playing out from the back.
And if at times the Germans were able to win back possession then so be it; even if the cries from the stands where to get rid of the ball at any cost.
Of course, Celtic lost and winning ugly beats an attractive defeat any day of the week.
Read more: Graeme McGarry: Celtic's diminutive Scots showed that if you're good enough, you're tall enough
However, if this group of players are to become an established Champions League side, certainly as long as Rodgers is there, then the football will be played the way the manager wants.
And that is final.
“I think Tuesday was probably one of the best Celtic games in my time here because it’s against a very good team,” said Mikael Lustig.
“From that we have shown we can play out from the back. The performance is satisfying but you need a win or a point to make it truly memorable for the rest of your life.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Arjen Robben and Thiago were raving about my Celtic stars
“We want to play that type of game and not the long ball. They have strong defenders and so if we did that then they would have moped up.
“We wanted to play our game. We are good footballers and that’s why we want to play this way and, in this game ,we did it.”
Scott Sinclair agreed that Celtic have taken a step forward despite losing again
He said: “We are progressing. I think everyone can see that.
“We re getting better with each game and are now stronger as a team.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel