‘Story of our campaign’ - Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou bemoans missed chances as Hoops branded ‘embarrassment’ by pundit

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou believes his side’s 2-0 defeat to RB Leipzig summed up their Champions League group stage campaign as they were left licking their wounds once more for failing to take their chances.

The Scottish champions performed well against the Bundesliga side in the first-half with the woodwork twice denying Matt O’Riley and Greg Taylor in quick succession.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Giorgos Giakoumakis were all guilty of passing up further opportunities and were punished through late strikes from Timo Werner and substitute Emil Forsberg proving the difference between the sides.

It leaves Celtic’s European hopes hanging by a thread as they now realistically attempt to secure a place in the Europa League knockout stages and Postecoglou cut a frustrated figure on the touchline after watching his team draw a blank.

The Hoops will need to beat Shakhtar Donetsk at Parkhead and secure a point in their final match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu to have any chance of going through.

A deflated Postecoglou admitted: “The emotions are disappointed. For the supporters and the lads, it was a game we were well in but it’s a story of our campaign. Missed chances cost us.

“It’s difficult. We’re talking about the highest level of club football. There’s different stresses around taking your chances. It’s why clubs spending 100s of millions trying to solve the problem but we need to keep putting our players in those positions and I’m sure they’ll learn.

“As this level they’ll be punished. I’ve said all along it can go one or two ways. We’ve tried to match the opposition and we’ve come away with nothing again unfortunately but I can’t fault the players application and they’re disappointed too. We had opporunities and didn’t take them.

“You’ve got to keep persevering. It’s understandable the fans are disappointed, we are. You’re not going to improve by walking away from what you’re trying to build.

“We’ve come a long way in a short space of time but when you’re playing at the highest level it takes more endeavour and effort, you’ve got to keep putting yourself in positions.”

TalkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy didn’t hold back live on air as he laid into Celtic for their performance and questioned their fans optimism.

He stated: “What’s going on with Scottish football in the Champions League? Celtic tonight, they really are an embarrassment. They give it the big one, saying they should be there (in the competition) naturally.”

Co-presenter Jamie O’Hara felt Cundy’s stance was harsh before the ex-Chelsea defender continued: “It’s not harsh. They must be embarrassed themselves, the Celtic fans - they must be.

“It’s not the toughest group in the world. Yes, they’ve got Real Madrid, but there’s tougher groups there. They were at home getting humbled. When Timo Werner is scoring against you, you know things ‘ain’t right.”

Host Andy Goldstein defended Werner, highlighting that he was a good player, to which Cundy replied: “Well, you can say that…”