HomeRodgers: Celtic must avoid red cards to keep Champions League hopes alive

Rodgers: Celtic must avoid red cards to keep Champions League hopes alive

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Brendan Rodgers warned his Celtic side they must keep 11 players on the pitch as they bid to take their Champions League hopes to the final matchday away at Lazio on Tuesday.

Celtic’s chance of making it to the last 16 are hanging by a thread, without a win from their four matches so far, leaving them bottom of Group E and meaning only a win on Tuesday will give them any possibility of making it through.

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Their prospects haven’t been helped by receiving a competition-high three red cards, leaving them numerically disadvantaged in two of their four matches, and Rodgers feels it is imperative they keep their discipline if they are to get a result at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday.

“We’re under no illusions about what we need to do,” Rodgers said at his pre-match news conference.


“We learned that, over the course of the competition, when we are 11 v 11 we can really compete. In the two away games, we have been down to nine men and 10 men and, at this level, that’s a big ask.

“So it will be about keeping our players on the field and playing to the level that we can and that we have shown, and hopefully getting the breaks in the game.

“I’m excited by it and I’m really looking forward to seeing us play tomorrow. I really think we can get the result we want, but we will have to work really, really hard.”

Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher
Jon has over 20 years' experience in sports journalism having worked at the Press Association, Goal and Stats Perform, covering three World Cups, an Olympics and numerous other major sporting events.

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