Celtic midfielder Mika Baur has revealed the dressing room was left in stunned silence after the team's astonishing Champions League collapse in Linz, where they surrendered a four-goal lead and crashed into the Europa League on a 5-4 aggregate defeat.
Martin O'Neill shouldered the blame after watching his side suffer one of their worst-ever European results, but Baur insisted every player must take a long, hard look in the mirror after the spectacular capitulation.
Baur: Every player needs to ask himself
Baur acknowledged the team's failings, saying: "Yeah, we're really disappointed. In the end, it was not a good match in the second half, especially in the extra time. I'm really, really sad now, at the moment. I think in the first half, everything was okay."
He added: "I think we had parts of the game where we controlled the game. But then we also had some mistakes. We were not that clean with the ball. So, even me, every player needs to ask himself if he did everything right today, to be able to see what he has to do better."
Silence in the locker room
Baur described the atmosphere after the match: "Yeah, there's not much going on. No one speaks. Everyone is with themselves. At the moment, it's really quiet and really, really sad in the locker room."
He continued: "I think we had a really tough day today. We lost a big match, but we have to move on. We need to stay together, even closer than before. I think it's a tough time now, but I think the team is capable."
Europa League ahead
Baur, who joined Celtic from the Bundesliga, admitted the defeat was not what he signed up for, but he remains committed to the club. He said: "Yeah, for sure it was one point (why I wanted to join), but I'm still very happy with the decision. I hope I will have a good time here, a great time here."
He added: "So, I've still had two incredible weeks now, and I'm looking forward to everything that's coming next. I'm still very happy with this decision to come here to Celtic. Is it the toughest moment of my career? Yeah, it is, but I really try to not be sad at the moment and today. But we still play Europa League. We still have a lot going on in Scotland. We need to move on tomorrow, stay together. We need to come back and try better on Saturday. Then we still have Europa League and everything."
Baur and his team-mates faced the fury of the travelling Celtic support after the match, and he acknowledged there is nowhere to hide. He said: "I think everybody can understand it. They expected, and we did not deliver. So, I think we have to understand this."
