Thursday 19 October 2017 14:45, UK
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers will not resort to pragmatism despite suffering a 3-0 defeat by Bayern Munich in their Champions League clash at the Allianz Arena.
Thomas Muller opened the scoring for the Bundesliga side in the 17th minute before right-back Joshua Kimmich headed in a second in the 29th minute.
Mats Hummels headed in a third six minutes after the break and although the Scottish Premiership champions threatened more in the second-half, it was a comfortable win for the home side.
Asked if he could perhaps have been more pragmatic in his approach, Rodgers said: "We decide how we play. There is nothing about being pragmatic for the goals we conceded. We didn't defend our box well enough when the ball came in. We could do better with those.
"But I would rather lose a game playing the way we want to play and how we want to work as opposed to sat in and defending for 90 minutes and still lose, if that is the case.
"Myself and my staff and the players had a plan going into the game and there were lots of positives for us in the game and something to look forward to for the second game against them at Celtic Park."
The victory against Anderlecht on matchday two means Celtic are likely to be playing in the Europa League after Christmas and that will represent progress for Rodgers' side, who finished bottom of their Champions League group last season.
Rodgers added: "You need to be a realist as well. You need to respect who you are playing against and of course we want to be competitive at this level but you also have to measure the level and quality you are playing against.
"My players gave everything, they did amazing to qualify for this competition and it is a huge ask for us. Progress for us is to be in Europe after Christmas and that is still our focus but of course we want to give our best in every game we play.
"I thought some of our play was very good, particularly in the second half. When we attacked and went forward we looked a real threat at times.
"I am disappointed with the nature of the goals we conceded. They were poor goals from our perspective but there was still a lot for us in the game. There is no denying we were playing against a top-class side but we feel we could have done better with the goals we conceded."
Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, who recently returned for a fourth spell in charge following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, is still looking for more from his side.
"We created a lot of chances that we didn't take advantage of and at the other end let them have a few themselves," he told UEFA.com. "We were a bit negligent there and we cannot let that happen. You need to be completely alert from the first to last minute."
