Callum McGregor confident Celtic can overturn two-goal deficit against Bodo/Glimt after damaging Europa Conference League defeat

The Hoops skipper felt there their performance was naive but insisted the tie is still far from over
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Callum McGregor believes Celtic showed enough to suggest they can overturn their two-goal deficit against FK Bodo/Glimt in their Europa Conference League last-16 play-off next Thursday.

The Hoops slumped to a 3-1 defeat to the Norwegian champions at Parkhead to leave their hopes of progressing in the competition hanging by a thread.

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Ange Postecoglou’s side struggled to contend with their well-drilled visitors, who are still in pre-season ahead of the start of their domestic season in April.

Amahl Pellegrino scores Bodo/Glimt's second goal in their 3-1 win over Celtic in the Europa Conference League. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Amahl Pellegrino scores Bodo/Glimt's second goal in their 3-1 win over Celtic in the Europa Conference League. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Amahl Pellegrino scores Bodo/Glimt's second goal in their 3-1 win over Celtic in the Europa Conference League. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Goals from Runar Espejord and Amahl Pellegrino had Bodo/Gimt in a dominant position before Daizen Maeda handed Celtic a brief lifeline.

However, straight from the re-start Hugo Vetlesen’s watched his deflected shot loop over Joe Hart into the net to seal another impressive result for the Scandinavian outfit.

McGregor told BT Sport: “It’s always difficult when you go a goal behind so early in the game as it gives you a mountain to climb, but I still thought we created good situations around the box.

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“It was just that last bit of quality that was missing tonight. Even when we pulled a goal back we thought we were in the ascendency but we conceded straight away which killed us a bit.

“For me, there was enough in the game to suggest we can go over there and turn things around, so we have to stay positive and stay calm.

“As I said, we got into good situations but our final pass let us down or the touch of quality that we’ve been used to in the last couple of weeks wasn’t there.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou retrieves the ball as it goes out of play during the Europa Conference League match against Bodo/Glimt at Celtic Park. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou retrieves the ball as it goes out of play during the Europa Conference League match against Bodo/Glimt at Celtic Park. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou retrieves the ball as it goes out of play during the Europa Conference League match against Bodo/Glimt at Celtic Park. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“It shows we’ve still got a lot of learning to do when it comes to these big games. We’ve got to step up in big moments and that was the difference tonight; they got their three goals because of the quality they showed.

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“If the game finishes 2-1 then you’ve still got a good chance (of progressing). That’s the sort of naivety we’ve still got at this level in terms of being a new group but we’ve got to learn from that.

“You’ve always got to stay switched on. As soon as you score that’s probably when you’re most vulnerable so we have to take that on the chin and re-assess it.”

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