Bullish O'Neill insists Celtic still alive in UEL
A defiant Martin O'Neill insists Celtic is not out of the qualification running after its 3-1 Europa League defeat to Midtjylland.
Martin Erlic, Mikel Gogorza and Franculino Dju all struck in the space of eight minutes late in the first half, proving Reo Hatate's late penalty redundant.
A drab first-half collapse saw O'Neill lose for the first time since returning to Celtic as Brendan Rodgers' interim replacement.
Celtic also dropped to 28th in the 36-team standings, with only one win in its four games, but O'Neill says his side still has the chance to make the knockout stages.
"I suppose that we probably always thought this year that 10 points would probably be enough [to qualify]," he said.
"We’re not out of it. That’s a big lesson for us tonight, to know what it takes to be a really decent European team.
"Midtjylland have shown that and they have good experience in the side, they have really good players and they have that thing that is really necessary, physicality."
Concerningly, Celtic has failed to win any of its last 15 away games in major European competitions (D5 L10), since a 3-2 win at Ferencvaros in this competition back in November 2021.
The majority of its undoing came from Celtic facing 15 shots in the first half of this match, the most they have conceded in the opening 45 minutes of a major European game since November 2012.
"Half an hour gone in the match, no score in the game, and then we conceded two goals within a minute, I think, and then a third one within seven minutes. So, naturally, that turns the game," O'Neill said.
"We showed a lot of resilience in the second half to keep at it, because the team could have gone under at that stage, but they showed a bit of character, which was lovely to see."
Celtic headed into the clash on the back of an extra-time victory over Rangers in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals, winning 3-1 across 120 minutes.
O'Neill suggested the victory over its fierce rival played its part in an underwhelming performance.
"I do genuinely think that on Sunday, the emotion of the game, everything went well," the veteran boss said.
"The extra time, all of those particular things definitely played a part. We just looked a little bit leggy."
