Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers decides it’s time alter his tactics in Europe

BRENDAN RODGERS says Celtic WILL adapt a pragmatic approach to their European away games from here on in.

In what represents something of a sea change for the Hoops manager, he has revealed he will now look to protect his players from the scars left from previous thrashings, such as the 7-1 loss to PSG and the 7-0 defeat by Barcelona.

“I would say lessons have been learned,” said Rodgers as he looked ahead to Thursday night’s Europa League trip to on-form Austrians RB Salzburg.

“It was experience, and experience always helps. The level of opponent helps.

“When we picked up the defeats, they were heavy defeats against top-quality opposition.

“I can probably look at myself, as well.

“I’m a very attack-minded coach, but the last thing I ever want to do is expose my players.

“I always feel the confidence you can gain from going against these teams, and still looking to play your game, can work to your advantage.

“But maybe I have to look at it and quell a little bit of that, just to ensure the players aren’t exposed.”

The switch in philosophy has been cause by a realisation the heavy defeats could be more psychologically detrimental than first thought.

“Yeah, I think that’s more what I’m looking at,” said Rodgers.

“They have shown spells in the games, but then there’s the sheer quality of a misplaced pass being put into a gap and it’s a goal.

“When you look at Paris, we actually started the game well, but the sheer quality of the opponent gets them through you.

“People talk about when we were away against PSG, but we were actually defending in a 5-4-1.

“We morphed into a 4-3-3 when we had the ball. But then we were 5-4-1, so we had a backline of five and four compact in front.

“But just the speed of that got through us.

“We end up conceding seven, so apart from just totally camping right in, there wasn’t a great deal more we could have done.

“Maybe we could have won a couple of duels that went against us.

“Away at Barcelona in the first year I was here, we were four down going into the last half-hour and that would have seemed like par for a game against them at that point in time.

“But we conceded late goals, and it put a different slant on the game.

“I’m conscious of what happens with the players and the impact. Not that I’ve seen a great deal of it from then, because everything I ever ask of them, they do their best.

“However, I certainly would never want to expose them to criticism that will come from conceding that number of goals.”

That’s not to say Rodgers is downbeat about the meeting with an opponent which has already beaten fellow Red Bull club, Leipzig, away in Germany, and is dominating its own domestic league.

“They are good sides, I can tell you,” he said. “Both Red Bulls will be aggressive in how they play.

“So it’ll be a tough game and it’ll be different for us.

“It’s another challenge for us at this level. They’re very defined in how they play, so for us it’s finding another tactic in a different way, which we don’t normally have to do.

“We’re normally the team having to break down an opponent sat in deep, so it’s an opportunity for us to show a different tactical side and hopefully pick up points.

“I was in Austria with Swansea and I saw Salzburg play a pre-season game.

“It’s a nice stadium, the pitch is great, and they have good technical players as a country. But they’re overshadowed by some of their neighbours.

“But we look forward to showing the experiences we’ve gained.

“Ultimately, it’s about trying to get out of the group.

“The home games are going to be very important, but away we have the opportunity to show our mentality and try to take some points.

“We’ve worked hard to be in Europe, so we’re looking forward to more really good experiences for us.

“We’ve been away to Rosenborg and won, and had a good performance in Moenchengladbach.

“When we’re pitched in around our level – not too far above or below it – then we’ve always had a chance of doing something.

“We hope that can be the case in this Europa League group stage.”

Salzburg maintained their 100% start to their league season with a 4-1 victory away to Wolfsberger.

It was their ninth win on the trot.

Their hosts were reduced to 10 men after 20 minutes, and Salzburg took full advantage with goals from Munas Dabbur (2), Zlatko Junuzovic and Reinhold Yabo.