Celtic 2 - 0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv: Too little too late as Celtic win but crash out of Europa League

Published on Wednesday 2 December 2009 22:22

TONY Mowbray last night insisted his Celtic side have been on the wrong end of rough justice in Europe this season and has set his sights on returning to make a significant impact in the Champions League next year.

• Celtic's Georgios Samaras scores. Picture: PA

A 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel-Aviv at Parkhead, Mowbray's first victory in five home European fixtures as Celtic manager, was not enough to prevent his side's elimination from the Europa League which was confirmed by Hamburg's success against Rapid Vienna by the same scoreline.

It means Hamburg and Hapoel have sealed qualification for the last 32 of the tournament before the concluding Group C fixtures on 17 December when Celtic will now face Rapid in Austria with only avoiding finishing bottom of the section at stake.

When Celtic dropped into the Europa League after being knocked out of the Champions League in the play-off round by Arsenal, Mowbray expressed the view they could enjoy a lengthy run in the secondary tournament. It has proved an anti-climax, however, with Celtic's collection of just two points from their first four games all but putting them out of contention before last night. Mowbray, however, believes their overall performances merited a better outcome.

"We have not really got what we deserved from the campaign," claimed Mowbray. "But the results are what they are, so we get on with it. There is frustration that we have not progressed. But it is experience we will hopefully take into the Champions League next year.

"We will try and add competition for places to our squad. Some of these players have played Champions League football before and they have enough experience to be competitive in whatever European competition we play in next season."

Goals from Georgios Samaras and Barry Robson earned a rare European victory for Scottish clubs, only the sixth in 26 games this season, and would again lead Celtic supporters to wonder how their team had failed to take any points from Hapoel back in September.

Mowbray also identified Celtic's 2-1 defeat in Israel on matchday one, when they let a 1-0 lead slip away in the closing 15 minutes, as the most significant night of the failed campaign.

"In Tel-Aviv we were the better team for long periods and it was a game we probably should have won," he reflected. "You look back at every game we played. We have been very competitive in every game in the group but you talk about the fine margins involved. Tonight, Georgios Samaras has managed to head one in and Barry Robson has smashed in a free-kick. In other games, the opposition goalkeeper has made good saves and we have missed opportunities. You have to take your chances when they come at this level.

"I thought tonight was a very similar performance to the rest of the campaign. It was disciplined and organised. We had a few more opportunities tonight. In games gone by, we missed opportunities but we managed to take a couple tonight. We were solid enough and got the job done tonight. We set the team up to play against a very technical Hapoel side who had scored eight goals in two games against Rapid Vienna. They cut them to shreds and it was important not to let that happen to us."

Asked if his team's victory might spark some momentum for the rest of the domestic campaign, Mowbray was non-commital.

"I don't know," he said. "We will go into our next game against Aberdeen and see how we go. I don't think the team have ever lacked confidence. We have just set the team up differently to face different challenges in different competitions."

Hapoel coach Eli Gutman savoured his side's qualification from a group in which they were seeded third but praised Celtic for successfully neutralising them last night. "Celtic fought hard and deserved to win tonight," said Gutman. "They played much more aggressively than we did. They closed down our key players very effectively and were very effective on the counter attack.

"But we are very proud to progress to the next stage of this competition, especially from this group. It was a very difficult group and I would not have believed at the start we would qualify along with Hamburg.

"We came into it as the underdog and I'm very proud of what my players did.

"For me, the second half in Tel-Aviv against Celtic was the turning point. We played to win and overcame Celtic, who had been on their way to a victory. It was very important."

Read the match report here