Leigh Griffiths says Celtic have learnt from Champions League exits
Wednesday 17 August 2016 09:13, UK
Leigh Griffiths insists Celtic have learned their lesson from previous Champions League heartbreaks.
It is three years since the Hoops last joined Europe's giants in the group stages, but they hope to end that wait by seeing off Israel champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva.
Under Ronny Deila, the Scottish Premiership champions floundered on the continent. His first attempt at qualifying for UEFA's main competition in 2014 ended in humiliation when they crashed out despite being handed two attempts at it.
Then last year, Celtic tripped as they came up to the final hurdle when taking on Swedish side Malmo.
Celtic switched off at three set-pieces over two legs as they lost on away goals, but Griffiths insists new boss Brendan Rodgers has drilled it into his players that they cannot afford to repeat those lapses.
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"The boys are still hurting from the last two years but we have drawn a line under that now and we need to go forward," the Scotland forward said.
"We spoke about what happened before but they are gone now and obviously we've got a different manager now.
"The new manager wants to come in and stamp his own authority over the team. He can emulate the success that Ronny had by getting to the group stages at the first crack.
"It's up to us players to perform on the park and we know what we have to do. We need to tighten up on individual mistakes. That's what cost us last time.
"Away from home it was two set-pieces. Two players lost their markers and that cost us two goals.
"At home we were 3-1 up with 30 seconds to go and lost a goal to another corner kick.
"So the gaffer has made sure we realise how dangerous set-pieces can be. Hopefully it is us who can use them to our advantage and things go for us this time."
Last season, Be'er Sheva ended a 40-year wait to land their first Israeli league crown since 1976, but Griffiths says Israeli midfielder Nir Bitton has made sure Celtic are fully briefed on what they can expect at Celtic Park.
"Nir has kept us up to speed of how dangerous they can be," he said. "We've watched videos of them. We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses but it is up to us to go and exploit that."
