Celtic 1-3 Copenhagen: Neil Lennon's side struggle against high press - Pat Bonner
- Published
Celtic failed to build on their 1-1 draw in Copenhagen
Celtic have to find a way to cope with teams like Copenhagen who press high and put them under pressure, according to former goalkeeper Pat Bonner.
Neil Lennon's side exited the Europa League after a surprise 3-1 last-32, second-leg home defeat by the Danes.
It was Celtic's first loss in 12 games since a similar home defeat by Rangers.
"The challenge is when teams really press them and you've got to give credit to Copenhagen and the way they set up their system," Bonner said.
"They weren't a great team by any means creatively, but what they did was put Celtic under pressure and Celtic have got to come up with some solutions about what to do when teams do that against them.
"They won't find that too often within Scotland, but in the big games they might."
Those defeats in Denmark and against Rangers, plus the first-leg draw in Copenhagen, are the only times Celtic have failed to win in 17 games since a 2-0 loss away to Cluj in their final Europa League group game when they had already topped their section.
They lead Rangers, who progressed to the last 16 on Wednesday, by 12 points in the Scottish Premiership as they chase a ninth title in a row and Bonner thinks Celtic's exit will help Ibrox manager Steven Gerrard in his attempt to narrow the gap next season.
"They need the money," the former Celtic goalkeeper told BBC Scotland. "They are way behind Celtic in that department. Celtic have a lot of money in the bank and it won't hurt them going out as much as it would Rangers.
"So Rangers are in a good position to gain some extra finance and that will help them because they have to strengthen next year. There's no question they're still behind Celtic form a squad point of view
"In a one-off game, they can challenge, but they certainly need players - and decent players - to enhance what they have there at the moment."
Bonner believes Celtic will view their exit as a missed opportunity.
"It's huge for the club and it's huge for the fans, the players, Neil Lennon himself and, of course, because Rangers have gone through, they'll be feeling, when they hear the draw this morning, what could have been," he said.
However, Bonner expects Celtic to recover quickly domestically when they travel to face St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup on Sunday.
"Huge frustration and disappointment sum up an incredible night of mistakes," he added. "Neil Lennon did say after the game there's no real need to analyse the game too much because of the individual mistakes. That's what it came down to."