Former Celtic skipper and now Stoke City manager, Paul Lambert, feels that Celtic are lacking balance in the team at the moment.
Brendan Rodgers has done a massive job in making Celtic an indestructible force in the Scottish Premiership, but the Bhoys have fared miserably in European games this season.
Celtic were dumped out of the Champions League group stages, although they were pitted in a strong group involving Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
Many expected the Hoops to do well in the Europa League, but despite taking a 1-0 lead at Parkhead against Zenit in the first leg, they couldn’t finish off the task in the return leg.
Lambert admits that financial disparity with other big clubs in Europe is a problem for Celtic, but there is more to it than that.
He feels that Celtic are lacking balance at the moment, and they are held up by fear factor when they play away from Celtic Park in European games.
“Celtic had the balance of that tie after the first leg,” the Stoke manager said, as quoted by the Herald Scotland. “We would all concede that finances play a major part but to me that is a tie that Celtic could have won.
“It wasn’t entirely unrealistic to think they could have come out of that tie and gone on to the next round. They got an excellent win in the first leg and that was a dangerous result for Zenit.
“To me, there was a sense that the heavy defeats in the Champions League took their toll – it was as if there was a fear to go and try for a goal in case they left themselves exposed. Had they been able to go out and get that away goal the tie would have been heavily slanted in their favour.
“The balance just doesn’t seem right at the minute. You need to be able to stand strong in these games and play with confidence in yourself and in one another.”
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