Celtic star admits Hoops HAVE been naive in Champions League as they can’t get away with ‘domestic tackles’

LIAM SCALES believes Celtic have been too green in the Champions League.

The Hoops defender insists naive red cards have cost them in Europe this season.

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Daizen Maeda’s first-half sending-off against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday was Celts’ THIRD dismissal in their four games, with Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm punished away to Feyenoord.

And Irish defender Scales admitted: “It’s probably that we’re a young team and maybe a bit naive at times.

“You come and play in Europe and the referees, you get nothing out of them.

“They are a lot stricter, and tackles you might get away with domestically, are fouls.

“With VAR, you’re going to pick up red cards in the way we’ve been doing.

“It’s frustrating, because with 11 players on the pitch we had started quite well in Madrid.

“I know we had conceded earlier before the red card, but we had quite a bit of the ball.

“It definitely would have been a more even game if we had kept 11 players on.

“We got a good result at home against them. We’re at the level, it’s just naivety and poor decisions at times that have let us down.

“Some of the goals, we could have defended better, we need to look back on that and see what we could have done better defensively. But it’s still difficult with ten men away from home to get results at any level, and especially there.

“Atletico are a top-quality side. It’s tough enough to go there with 11 men, but to go down to ten, and having our backs against the wall for that long, it was even harder.

“With the quality of players they have and the amount of attacking they were doing, they are going to score goals.

“Some of the goals they scored were outstanding, so we’ve just got to take it on the chin and move on — there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it now.

“We’re just looking forward to the next one because we know we can still pick up points in this group and do well.”

Scales reckons there are lessons for the Hoops to learn when it came to how streetwise Atletico were.

Like when their entire bench erupted to influence the referee to send off Maeda.

Scales, 25, added: “You see the way they react and all of their staff are up off the bench. It really doesn’t help.

“The VAR screen is right beside their bench as well, and the ref was probably feeling the pressure.

“But he makes the decisions and that’s fair enough.

“They are definitely more streetsmart than us, that’s for sure, the way they can influence the referee.

“It’s not the nicest part of the game, but it helps them win games and we could definitely learn from it.”

Scales insists there’s only one way for Celtic to improve at Champions League level.

He said: “Just work really hard every day in training.

“There are two games left in the group, and now it’s just about bouncing back and doing as well as we can.

“The Lazio game at home was so tight and it could have gone either way, so we feel we can go there and get a result.

“It’s the same with Feyenoord at home. We were doing well in Rotterdam up until the two red cards, and the same happened against Atletico in Madrid.”

The bigger picture for Celtic is they are not out of the competition quite yet.

Two wins, and Atletico beating Lazio and Feyenoord still gives them a look at second, depending on their head-to-heads.

Scales added: “That’s it, there are positives to take.

“Maybe not so much from Tuesday night, but there’s a next game and we just have to look forward to it, that’s the positive.

“You need to learn from these things at this level, because teams are so ruthless, and if you don’t learn then the same things are going to keep happening.

“You might feel like you maybe could have got a result.

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but in a couple of the games in this campaign I feel like we could have got something out of them.

“It’s good experience. They are brilliant players, they are at the very top level.

“So it’s a good challenge, and I enjoy it. I obviously didn’t enjoy patches of Tuesday night, but it’s where every footballer wants to be, playing at this level, and it’s really enjoyable.”

Scales himself is just enjoying the thrill of being a Celtic starter, having grabbed his chance under Brendan Rodgers.

He said: “I’m sort of in the swing of it now. I’ve played enough matches.

“I’m taking every game as it comes and I’m really enjoying it.

“I’m just delighted to be where I am, really. I wouldn’t say I’m pinching myself, but I’m happy with how it’s going.”

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