Deila: Celtic "gave up" in Legia Warsaw defeat
- adamhigginsuk
- Jul 31, 2014
- 3 min read
CELTIC manager Ronny Deila believes his side "gave up" during their heavy Champions League qualifying defeat to Legia Warsaw.
The Scottish champions lost 4-1 in Poland in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie and had defender Efe Ambrose sent off just before half-time.
Callum McGregor's early goal was quickly cancelled out as Henning Berg's side took control and could have scored more had they not missed two penalties.
"I am, of course, unbelievably disappointed. I think we started quite well and got the first goal. Then we just gave up under the pressure," said Deila, who suffered his first loss since taking over from Neil Lennon this summer.
"We conceded an easy goal and from there I think we lose our heads. We started to lose the ball in the centre of the pitch so many times and also we didn't stay together in the back four.
"So they get over us and get easy chances. In the end they also get the penalty and the red card. It was a totally different match in the second half."
McGregor, a scorer in the last round against KR Reykjavik away from home, curled into the top corner to give the Hoops a dream start inside eight minutes.
However, Miroslav Radovic equalised within two minutes before scoring again - and it got worse for Deila's side when Ambrose was sent off for a last-man foul on Michal Kucharczyk just before the interval.
But the Norwegian was unhappy with Celtic's approach in the second half, telling BBC Scotland: "Second half I think they started OK but again in the defensive situation, we were not together as a team.
"The pressing, some was high, some was low, instead of being together. So it was a very poor performance. The fact we didn't stay together for 90 minutes concerns me the most."
Although, Deila felt he took some responsibility for failing to make his message clear enough to the players.
"It was not the plan to go forward at 2-1. We had a spell when we had good control but started making stupid mistakes and they got space behind us. That's my responsibility," he said.
"I have to be much clearer as to what I expect and how we perform as a team, defensively and offensively and tonight we lost our heads and that is not good enough."
Celtic, who beat Icelandic outfit KR 5-0 on aggregate in the previous round, were well in the game for large spells but Deila alluded to certain qualities that were lacking in their play.
"Worst of all was the commitment, the energy. We needed much more energy into the game," he bemoaned.
"We lose the ball too much in the middle and also the back four is not together. We're not pushing out enough, staying too wide, so when we lose the ball we were completely open."
Distraught: Deila watched on as Celtic caved in at the Pepsi Arena in Poland (Picture from BBC Sport)
Following the 4-1 deficit, the Bhoys require a 3-0 win to advance to the play-off round - something they achieved last season in the second leg against Shakhter Karagandy to reach the group stages.
Although Deila admitted his side must learn from mistakes quickly, the former Stromsgodset boss believes they still have a chance of progressing.
"What is done is done. We have to learn from this very quickly because we need to have a whole different attitude and discipline in our play," he added.
"We got our away goal, I'm happy about that. We still have a chance if we go to Murrayfield with everything we have and if we have the supporters behind us.
"We have one goal [away from home] and it is possible to still win 3-0 at home. We'll try everything we can to win the game."
Last updated: 31 July 2014 09:11am
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