The team that drinks together wins together.
It used to be the club across the city who clung to that mantra. But Brendan Rodgers can also see the value in letting his Celtic squad kick back with a cold one too. Of course, he didn’t want them overdoing it — but the proud Parkhead gaffer saw nothing wrong with allowing his players a chance to unwind with a beer back at base after Tuesday’s Champions League thriller with Bayern Munich.
The 3-2 aggregate loss was a defeat that would have left a bitter taste in the Hoops’ mouths as Alphonso Davies’ stoppage-time strike sent the Germans through. But as Rodgers gathered his men back at their hotel for a post-match debrief, he raised a glass and assured them they can savour the fact they have regained for Celtic the respect of their European rivals with a show of bravery in Bavaria.
“I said the players after the game that you can hold your head up so proud because of the level the opponent,” he said while reflecting on his side’s run to the play-off round. What you look for in this game is respect and you'll come off the pitch and those guys will respect you for what you did over the couple of games. These are guys who will be challenging for maybe the Champions League itself.
“So the disappointment was there naturally because of the nature of how the game ended. But I said to the players, for us to be sat here, feeling like this, it really shows how far you've come.
“I looked in their eyes after the Dortmund game and that was a real tough one. So it just showed you the mentality and the resilience and the grit that this team have. They overcame that, recovered from the setback and then pushed on and we went back to the hotel, we had a beer and then got back to training the
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