JOSIP JURANOVIC, the Celtic fullback, has backed goalkeeper Joe Hart to recover his poise after his Champions League error against RB Leipzig on Wednesday night.
Less than a minute after VAR had offered Celtic a second reprieve of the night Hart’s slack distribution was the catalyst for Andre Silva to net. for the second Leipzig goal of the night. The Bundesliga side went on to win 3-1 with Celtic needing a home win on Tuesday against the Germans as well as a Celtic Park victory against Shakhtar Donestsk to keep their chances of European football after Christmas alive.
Asked if it is a big night for Hart to go up against Leipzig so quickly, Juranovic offered a compelling argument in defence of his team-mate.
“Yes, and one in which he can show once again who he is,” he said. “Joe is our second leader, a great character and an excellent goalkeeper. He made a mistake in Germany but there is no way it will break him because he is a champion. He has been so for many years.
“As Joe said afterwards, we play the way the manager wants us to play, the attacking way that the players want to play and it does put individuals under pressure at certain moments. A few mistakes are going to happen but they do not outweigh all the good things that we produce as a group.
“For example, if you look at all our Champions League matches so far you will see we have created many, many, chances to score. If we had put a higher percentage of them away then we would already be in a much stronger position.
“As we did last year, though, against teams like Leverkusen and Betis we are showing we cause for problems for some of the biggest teams. It is exciting and it is where we want to be.”
Hart’s error last week has not been the first uneasy moment for the Celtic defence of late. Juranovic offered Motherwell a way back into a game that Ange Postecoglou’s side had dominated last Saturday when he chested the ball past the English goalkeeper with the mix-up in communication close costing points.
“It was a mix up because I believed if that I chested it back then Joe would be in the perfect position to receive the ball,” explained the Croatian internationalist. “At the same time, he was sure he could come out and collect it. Unfortunately, we both could not be right and the ball ended up in the back of the net.
“Of course, you do not want these misunderstandings to happen but this is football and it is always possible. Joe and I spoke about it after the game, the manager spoke about it too and we have moved on.”
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