Manager: Belgrade draw gives us a platform to build on in Europa League campaign

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Celtic F.C.

·24 septembre 2025

Manager: Belgrade draw gives us a platform to build on in Europa League campaign

Brendan Rodgers believes that his side gained a good point on their opening Europa League game, with the Hoops drawing 1-1 against Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade.

At the same time, there was a sense that the team could have gone on to win the match, given they took the lead early in the second-half.

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Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, Brendan Rodgers said: “I think it’s a good start for us. Of course you want to win every game but to come here and take the point, and still be disappointed that we maybe didn’t go on and win the game, it’s something we can take and move into our next game next week when we play Braga.

“In the first-half it was just too passive and then when we arrived through the pitch into the game, we just didn’t keep the ball long enough in the final third of the field.

“I put Kelechi into the game because he’s a good reference for the team. I know he can hold the ball and his touch, and that allowed us to come into the game and I felt we were much better in the second-half and looked like we could go on and win the game.”

It was Kelechi Iheanacho, on as a substitute at the start of the second-half for Daizen Maeda, who opened the scoring in the 56th minute with a superb finish.

And he caused problems for the Serbian side throughout the remainder of the game. His contribution pleased his manager, who also praised the performance of 19-year-old, Colby Donovan.

“Kelechi’s a brilliant goalscorer,” the manager said. “I knew that bringing him in, and I knew that how he looks after himself is really good.

“So it’s just about getting him up to speed, and when he can do that, he can score goals, there’s absolutely no doubt.

“I thought Colby was outstanding. I said afterwards to the players that for a young kid who’s just turned 19, coming to this stadium which is a real challenge and a real intimidating place, he played with personality, he played with composure and he has a toughness to him where he’s not going to get beat easily, and I thought he was absolutely outstanding.”