VALENCIA Boss Marcelino has given Celtic some praise as he admitted the bhoys were far superior to his side before the sending off in the first half.
Celtic were dominating the play and looking dangerous when a very soft second yellow card for Jeremy Toljan closed the door on the night for the club to have any real chance of progression.
The Spanish side immediately got a boost from the sending off and started to barrage Celtic’s final third before half time. Scott Bain and the Celtic defence kept them out for a long time, and the bhoys deserve a lot of credit for keeping themselves in the tie for as long as they did under the circumstances.
Marcelino backs this theory up and recognises his players weren’t at the races until the referee changed the game.
“We are satisfied with having passed the tie as expected, although the first 35 minutes I liked rather little.” Marcelino told SuperDeporte.
“It is logical because when you have such a favourable result of the first game, 0-2, in the second you always tend to relax.
“To that possible relaxation, in that time Celtic was superior and, after the expulsion, we were clear dominating and deserving of the triumph.”
Celtic exit the competition at the same stage as last season but they can hold their heads up high. They must take heart from the away leg but learn from the home leg which ultimately lost us the tie.
