It had been 42 games, a run stretching all the way back to the Champions League loss to Barcelona in November, since Celtic had suffered defeat. Having completed an unbeaten domestic season, collecting a treble of trophies in the process, there was an air of invincibility about Brendan Rodgers’ side, until they travelled to Kazakhstan last week.
Carrying a 5-0 lead into the Champions League playoff second leg, it appeared Celtic had little to worry about. Ultimately, their progress to the group stage wasn’t in doubt, but just for a moment, Astana provoked a sense of panic in the ranks of the Hoops. The Kazakhstan side might just have set a precedent for opposition sides going forward.
That 4-3 second leg defeat was followed up by a substandard display at home to St Johnstone on Saturday, with a late goal from Callum McGregor sparing Celtic from suffering their first home league defeat in two years. This was the week in which the Hoops, for the first time in a long while, looked beatable.
"I always ask the players to play, to have the courage and the nerve to do that and if they make a mistake it is up to me,” Rodgers explained after the draw at home. “We had one example with Kieran, under pressure with no-one near him, probably felt as a young player that he had to smash it forward and we end up giving the ball away.
"I was signalling to stay calm. This is football. You have to stay calm when under pressure, not just the players but outside. Or you can play Scottish football. Just smash it up the pitch. It hasn't got you anywhere for 20-odd years. It is understandable that the supporters want to see the ball in the box. But I've said since I came up here, the quicker it goes forward the quicker it comes back at you.”
Indeed, the performances turned in by Celtic over the past year or so are perhaps unsustainable in the long run, particularly if Rodgers is to place more emphasis on the Champions League as he attempts to guide his team to the last 16 of the competition. That is maybe what Rodgers is preparing his fans for. A domestic defeat might not be long in coming.
With just three days left of the transfer window remaining, Rodgers has questions to answer regarding his defence. Injuries have exacerbated Celtic’s frailty at the back, with Nir Button converted into a makeshift centre back over the early part of the season. That, as the defeat to Astana showed, is not a long term solution.
South African defender Rivaldo Coetzee was expected to sign before the close of the window, but a failed medical put paid to those plans, with Celtic set to look at other options, following on from the loan signing of Patrick Roberts from Manchester City. At least Rodgers seems to recognise the weakness that opponents could come to exploit in his side.
Of course, in a domestic sense, this is a weakness that might go unchallenged. A gigantic gulf exists between Celtic and the chasing pack, but in Europe it could prove an issue. The Scottish champions have been drawn in a difficult group alongside Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Anderlecht. Their defence must be in better shape for those tests than it has been over the past week.
