Brendan Rodgers hits back at Celtic's Champions League critics | OneFootball

Celtic qualified for the Europa League by finishing third in their Champions League group, despite a final-day home defeat to Anderlecht.

For some, like their manager Brendan Rodgers, finishing third in the group should be considered success.

Others, like Roy Keane, suggested that expectations are way too low and Celtic should be aiming higher.

Rodgers hit back at such critics on Friday, saying that it’s unfair to compare the Bhoys to the top clubs in Europe.

“Where we are in terms of modern football, you look at the teams that we should be measured against like Ajax, who didn’t even qualify or the likes of Benfica who are running away with the league in Portugal but ended up with no points, and other teams,” he said.

Rodgers pointed out that Celtic are the only ‘Champions Route’ team left in Europe, referring to the system that allows the Champions of smaller leagues a path into Europe’s top competition via the qualification rounds.

“We were the only team from the Champions Route [to reach the Europa League],” he noted.

“Some people won’t even know what the Champions Route is and that’s how far away we’re deemed to be from Champions League football.”

The Northern Irishman backed his players and urged pundits not to compare Celtic to big-budget super-teams.

“So it’s unfortunate that lots of people will measure us on PSG and Bayern Munich, which is totally unrealistic,” Rodgers argued.

“I think what the players have done in these last 18 months from not qualifying to then finishing bottom of the Europa League to having a successful Champions League qualification campaign and now in the second campaign to qualify for European football after Christmas, I think it’s an achievement for them in terms of where we sit in football at this point in time.”

The best way forward, according the manager, is just to ignore the outside noise.

He added: “For us there’ll always be criticism, we know that, but it doesn’t really bother us. We just have to continue with our work.

“We have to continue to try to grow and use the criticism as growth. That’s something we’ve done over the course of the last 18 months.”

Celtic return to domestic action with a trip to Hibernian on Sunday.