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Celtic defender Alistair Johnston believes it's a sign of progress that his side leave Croatia disappointed to only have taken a point against Dinamo Zagreb.

Johnston was replaced at the interval after sustaining a hip-flexor injury in the opening half, but played his part in keeping a clean sheet and earning a ninth Champions League point of the campaign.

"It's a great sign," the Canada right-back said.

"I think since I've got here, that was one of the big things I've been told and has been pushed to me.

"We want to make strides in Europe and to think now that we're coming to away matches, it doesn't matter who the team is, but we are a little disappointed we only got to draw.

"I think that is a sign of things to come and again there's still levels to go because we know we do have the quality in this team to have found a winner there, but at the same time it wasn't our night."

Pat Nevin
Former Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

Happy for Celtic, they are probably a point or two points away from getting to the knockout phase, which is just phenomenal.

Brendan Rodgers was actually disappointed for the draw that they got last night, which tells you they are better. But after last night I felt Celtic had been good enough and deserving of getting through.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, speaking to the media after his side's 0-0 draw with Dinamo Zagreb: "The positive is that we have come away again and were defensively strong and didn't concede. When you have the confidence to do that in Europe it really helps for when you take steps forward.

"I thought we lacked quality in the final third of the pitch. We progressed the game well enough and got into some really good areas.

"If you take a point away from home, and a clean sheet, and you are not very happy, then that shows you how much and far the group has progressed."

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

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After six Champions League games last season, Celtic were out of Europe.

Bottom of their section on four points, with a concluding win over Feyenoord in their final group game not enough to drop into the Europa League.

This time around, Brendan Rodgers' side have nine points from six games, and are well-placed to reach the next stage of Europe's elite club competition.

Following a crushing 7-1 loss away to Borussia Dortmund, Celtic are unbeaten in four Champions League outings.

The defensive flaws that were so ruthlessly exposed in Germany appear to have been fixed, and they were rarely troubled in their - admittedly drab- goalless draw at Dinamo Zagreb.

"The whole job for this campaign is to qualify, and they are doing that well," former Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart said on TNT Sports.

"They look like they are ready for knockout football."

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Thomas: Just seen Anders' comment from earlier and would have to disagree. Having watched nearly every Liverpool game this season I'd say they've only really shown their full potential in three or four games but because of how solid Slot has made the defence and midfield they're still winning without playing great. They've definitely still got some gears to go through and if Jota can come back and stay fit for a good portion of the season they'll be even more dangerous.

Thumbs up to start Ollie Watkins, thumbs down if Jhon Duran deserves to be Aston Villa's number nine.

Paul Robinson
Former England goalkeeper on the Football Daily podcast

It was the story of Aston Villa's Champions League season so far - they have been really good - they have taken to it and certainly enjoyed playing in it.

It has not been an easy place to come Leipzig, you look at the draw they've had, the teams that they've played against - Liverpool came here and won 1-0.

It was a really good performance from Aston Villa tonight. Going forward, [John] McGinn, [Morgan] Rogers, [Youri] Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara sat at the base of the midfield - he's getting all his players fit and they look like they are a strong squad. I'm really impressed with Aston Villa.

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With both Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran getting 45 minutes in the RB Leipzig win, it seemed the perfect opportunity to look at the positioning of both during a half of football.

Marc Albrighton described Watkins as more of an all-round striker that works hard for the team and his touch map backs that up. He was quite literally everywhere in the attacking half of the pitch in that opening 45 minutes. It's also evident that he likes to drift wide more with multiple touches on both wings.

Duran on the other hand is a goalscorer - a classic number nine, some might say. Again, his touch map appears to back this up.

While he has taken up some positions deeper on the field, there is a strong cluster of his touches all in the same area of the pitch - a stark contrast to his striking counterpart.

Duran is also much more narrow than Watkins, his touches are far more centralised. It appears to show what we already know and that is that the England forward loves to get down the channels to stretch the play. Duran on the other hand is more likely to pick up the ball and use his strength to feed those either side of him.

Mike: So I am wondering about Stephan's "idea"....with a league format, even if every team only plays each other once, we are limited to a maximum of 12 teams. So, which of the current 36 would he boot out?

Marc Albrighton
Former Aston Villa midfielder on the Football Daily podcast

A big plus in recent weeks is [Boubacar] Kamara coming back into the side. After a big injury it usually takes a while but he has come straight back in and he has really taken control of that midfield - they dominated in that midfield.

They have got players available to them that have got massive quality. We know what Emi Buendia can do on his day - he is another one that would probably like a lot more football than he's getting, but at the minute he is another one that is going to have to bide his time and just impress when he comes on.

The squad depth is tremendous at the minute. As Unai Emery keeps saying, there are so many games and so much football to be played so there is always going to be opportunities.

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking after his side recorded their fourth win from six Champions League games: "At the beginning we were trying to be the protagonists. Now we achieved being in the top 24, maybe the top 16, with a chance of finishing in the top eight.

"Our target is now higher than when we started the competition."

Paul Robinson
Former England goalkeeper on the Football Daily podcast

We don't call them substitutes anymore we call them finishers and that's exactly what Jhon Duran is.

The problem with Duran and maybe to his detriment is, he's actually that good at coming off the bench. Some players don't like coming off the bench. Some players play better from the start and Ollie Watkins maybe is one of those type of players and that maybe is in Unai Emery's thinking.

Duran has got the mental strength to not play every week but when he does he gives you the performance that you see and he gets the goals.

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Marc Albrighton
Former Aston Villa midfielder on the Football Daily podcast

I thought he [Jhon Duran] really led the line well. Obviously he gets his goals but in previous occasions I feel Ollie Watkins offers more as an all-round striker and I think that's probably why Unai Emery favours him but tonight, even when Duran came on, I felt like he put himself about more and got more involved with the link-up play and then topped it off with his goal.

Everything he touches as the minute seems to turn to gold, even with his goal, on another day a keeper saves that but with the form he's in and the way that he's playing at the minute everything seems to be going in for him.

I'm sure he would like more starts but from a Villa point of view I think it's working really well at the minute and I don't see any reason to change it. The way that Unai Emery has managed the two of them can't be faulted because he's got it spot on.

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In the Premier League and Champions League this season, striker Ollie Watkins has started all but two of Aston Villa's games, with Jhon Duran starting only two matches against Southampton and Bologna.

Watkins has scored seven goals so far this campaign, while replacement forward Duran has bagged 10 goals in all competitions - two of which came in the EFL Cup.

Despite the numbers, Duran remains as a super-sub for Villa boss Emery as he continues to manage the 20-year-old.

Emery confirmed that Duran replaced Watkins at half-time on Tuesday against RB Leipzig due to the Englishman picking up a "small injury", with the Colombian scoring a spectacular second-half goal in the victory.

"Sometimes he [Duran] is very impassioned and we have to try and keep balanced with him," Emery told Amazon Prime.

"He scored a great goal and he works, we are trying to get the team strong with a tactical approach. His potential is massive. Tactically he is improving and today he played a fantastic 45 minutes."

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Alan Shearer
Former England striker on Amazon Prime

I know he (Jhon Duran) is only young (20-years-old) but you have every right to go and ask the manager why you are not starting if you are doing what he wants.

Forget your age. If you are doing your bit and doing what the manager wants, you have to be in the team. His message will be: Don't leave me out again.

Alex Brotherton
BBC Sport journalist

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Not only did Jhon Duran help Aston Villa take a huge step towards reaching the Champions League knockouts, the striker also sent a clear message to manager Unai Emery to reward him with a starting place.

Duran's curling 25-yard strike in Villa's 3-2 defeat of RB Leipzig on Tuesday was his 10th goal of the season, yet he has only made four starts in all competitions.

The Colombia international, 20, presented himself as a super-sub figure earlier this season, scoring from the bench in four of Villa's five opening Premier League games.

The six goals he has scored as a substitute are more than any other player across Europe's big five leagues in all competitions this season.

"We worked hard as a team, and that is my job to score. The main thing was the win and the three points away from home," Duran told Amazon Prime after the match.

"I'm just happy to be here and I actually love the competition with Ollie Watkins. When it's my turn I'll step up and hopefully I can score and help the team.

"We're so happy to be where we are in the standings right now, but we've got to win the game at home [against Celtic] and we're almost through so we are delighted about that."

OK, from a young Chelsea player trying to make his mark to a hungry Aston Villa striker doing his best to guarantee a start.

Cue Jhon Duran...

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Right, before we move on from Chelsea and back to a review of Tuesday night's Champions League, here is a little update on Chelsea's Josh Acheampong and why him playing against Astana could be significant.

Acheampong is an 18-year-old defender who can play at centre-back or right-back and was one of just two youngsters from the club's academy that went on Chelsea's pre-season tour to the United States.

He made his senior debut for the club in 2023-24, aged just 17-years-old, appearing as a substitute in a 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the Premier League.

The teenager has also featured for the first team this season, playing 27 minutes in the third-round EFL Cup triumph over Barrow.

An impasse over signing a new contract had recently led to an exile from the squad and he had not played in Chelsea's first-team or academy for over two months until an appearance for the under-21s on 29 November.

According to boss Enzo Maresca, he now looks set to make his first start for the senior team in Thursday's Conference League match against Astana.

You may have noticed that Chelsea will be kicking of Thursday's game at 15:30 GMT.

Their Conference League tie in Astana will start at 20:30 local time, but, as referenced by Enzo Maresca, the time in Kazakhstan is five hours ahead of the UK.