Away at Bayern Munich Brendan Rodgers used his bench only twice, despite having ten outfield options available.
Jota was substituted by Adam Idah around the hour mark, shortly after being clattered; the winger had never been anticipated to play 90 minutes due to his minimal playing time since returning to Celtic in January.
Nicolas Kuhn was injured in the 69th minute, just after scoring, and was replaced by Yang Hyun-jun.
Despite the intensity of the encounter, no substitutes were employed (Mail Confidential says).
Rodgers clearly didn’t trust his bench. Despite his players’ fatigue in the final stages as extra time approached, he made only two substitutes, introducing Adam Idah and Yang-Hyun-jun.
Given that the manager had to fill his bench with young players like Dane Murray and Jude Bonnar, his alternatives in such a big game were simply too limited.
The notion that individuals like Rodgers would go out to prove a message to their bosses in such circumstances is plainly absurd. They will always play the best hand they can to win the game.
However, a look at the seven previous play-off games played last week reveals that Rodgers was severely hampered by a lack of first-team ready choices on his bench. PSV Eindhoven and Juventus each made six replacements as their match in the Netherlands went into extra time.
Real Madrid, PSG, Brest, Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, and Sporting Lisbon all made five. Benfica, Monaco, and AC Milan all scored four. Manchester City, Club Brugge, and Feyenoord each made three.
It’s a 16-man game these days, or 17 if you go the distance. Celtic cannot afford to go in so light next season and expect to progress.
Celtic were without the injured duo of Paulo Bernardo and James Forrest, two players that had 10 substitute appearances in this season’s Champions League to their name, but the options on the bench were still light.
No one expects to see substitutes of the quality that Vincent Kompany can call on but increasing the depth of quality will be a priority during the summer transfer window.
If they go on to win the SPFL Premiership title Celtic will face a two legged Play Off at the end of August to return to the new look, expanded Champions League group stage.
On the bench against Bayern Viljami Sinisalo, Scott Bain, Maik Nawrocki, Murray and Bain haven’t started an SPFL match this season. Stephen Welsh and Luis Palma went out on loan in January, both players only started one SPFL this season before leaving.
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