Match Pictures | Matches: 2021 – 2022
Trivia
- Veolia Trophy
- Celtic, some French sides and Sevco in pre-season tournament in France.
- Groupama stadium at 5.15pm
- Celtic & Sevco will not face each other as teams from the same country are kept apart.
- Leigh Griffiths kept in Glasgow, and negative rumours return but he criticises them.
- Lennon came out after the match with scathing remarks on Griffiths form & condition (overweight), explaining for his absence. Neil Lennon blasted Leigh Griffiths, telling the striker to get himself fit and to stop posting ‘nonsense’ on social media.
First Celtic match after COVID-19 suspension of football. - COVID-19, to date Scotland has been hit badly but has come through it to date, but long way to go.
- Country has been opening up after major lockdown.
- Many have died globally through the world due to the virus, and many others have lost their jobs.
- Celtic finished the league season as league champions, but Scottish Cup incomplete and could still be completed.
- Concerns various clubs could go under. In England, Wigan enter admin.
- Limited numbers allowed at the match.
- Black Lives Matter movement in full flow across the globe, and big changes abound across the globe.
- European games on course to be one leg matches to qualify for the Champions League.
- Celtic have already practically sold out season tickets for next season. Incredible. Celtic going for ten in a row.
- Hearts & Partick Thistle take league to court (over their relegation), and in turn SPFL charge them over it all.
- Frank O’Callaghan has passed away RIP. He was a former director and non-executive chairman at Paradise, between February 1999 and June 2000.
- Transfers:
- Lots of news but little movement due to the circumstances.
- Scepovic left on a free, to surprise of many.
- Fraser Forster expected to return down south, his wages are too high (3-4x higher than could ever achieve at Celtic).
- Celtic chasing 2-3 other goalies, including ironically Joe Hart (the ex-England keep who kept Forster out the England no.1 role).
- Jack Hendry sent on one-year loan move to Belgian side KVV Oostende
Summary
[….]
Teams
CELTIC: Bain, Frimpong, Jullien, Ajer, Taylor, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Christie, Elyounoussi, Edouard.
Subs: Doohan, Hazard, Bitton, Klimala, Soro, Ntcham, Bolingoli, Connell, Robertson, Elhamed, Henderson, McInroy, Welsh, Dembele.
Goals: (Klimala 73)
NICE: Benitez, Pionnier, Bambu, Pelmard, Kamara, Makengo, Thuram, Lees-Melou, Sacko, DOlberg, Gouiri.
Subs: Boulhendi, Cardinale, Dante, Atal, Hamache, Mestrallet, Daniliuc, Trouillet, Boudaoui, Parsemain, Ben Seghir, Brazao
Goals:
(Dolberg 38)
(Teams fully changed at 60mins)
Veolia Trophy
Groupama Stadium, Lyon
Att: (1000 – COVID restrictions)
Articles
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Articles
OGC Nice 1 – 1 Celtic: Patryk Klimala breaks duck to clinch draw in Veolia Trophy opener
Polish substitute scores first goal for champions as Neil Lennon’s men share spoils in Lyon
By Angus Wright
Thursday, 16th July 2020, 8:14 pm
Patryk Klimala grabbed his first goal in Celtic colours as Neil Lennon’s ten-in-a-row hopefuls earned a 1-1 draw with Nice in Lyon.
The Scottish champions re-emerged from their 131-day long coronavirus lockdown for the Veolia Trophy opener but there was little sign of ring rust as they quickly found their groove at the Groupama Stadium.
Celtic: Get the latest team news, match previews and reports
Odsonne Edouard thought he had grabbed an early opener on his return to France but was denied by a strange VAR offside call.
And there was more disappointment for the Parkhead side as Kasper Dolberg struck against the run of play just before half-time.
But Polish substitute Klimala found the net for the first time since sealing a £3.5million switch from Jagiellonia back in January to seal a draw.
Nice finished fifth in last season’s Ligue 1 and the result will give Lennon encouragement ahead of his team’s attempt to seal a record-breaking tenth straight league title this term.
Celtic took a knee along with their French opponents in support of the Black Lives Matter movement before kick-off but were quickly on the front foot as they swarmed over Nice.
And it appeared Lennon’s team had grabbed a deserved opener just four minutes in when Edouard rounded keeper Walter Benitez to slot home.
However, the France Under-21 ace was denied a homecoming strike by a bizarre offside decision as the television officials failed to spot that the ball had been played through to the former PSG man by Nice’s Jean-Victor Makengo.
Scott Bain – the only senior keeper at Lennon’s disposal following the departures of Fraser Forster and Craig Gordon – made a strong case for his inclusion this term with a brilliant one-handed save to deny Dolberg heading home from a corner.
Celtic continued to dominate but were made to regret a string of missed chances six minutes before the break. Dolberg was allowed to waltz in from the left and past a feeble Christopher Jullien challenge before two more half-hearted tackles from James Forrest and Kris Ajer left the former Ajax hitman to clip past Bain.
Ryan Christie wasted another golden chance just moments into the second period as he raced through on goal before fluffing his finish.
Both teams then made sweeping changes on the hour mark, with an entirely new Celtic line-up replacing the full-strength starting XI Lennon had fielded.
But Nice’s teenage goalkeeping understudy Teddy Boulhendi was caught cold after 73 minutes when he gifted possession to Klimala, who gleefully stroked home the equaliser into the empty net.
Celtic return to action on Saturday when they face the hosts Lyon.
Klimala on target for Celtic in entertaining friendly in France
http://www.celticfc.net/news/18326
By: Paul Cuddihy on 16 Jul, 2020 19:21
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Veolia Trophy
Groupama Stadium, Lyon
Thursday, July 16, 2020
CELTIC… 1
(Klimala 73)
NICE… 1
(Dolberg 38)
PATRYK Klimala scored his first goal for Celtic as Neil Lennon’s side drew 1-1 with Nice in their opening fixture of the Veolia Trophy at Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
It was the first action for the Hoops in just over four months and the Scottish champions played well against a Nice side who’ve already enjoyed a couple of pre-season friendly matches ahead of this fixture.
Despite the long lay-off, Celtic started the match in a sprightly fashion, sporting the new adidas Hoops kit, with the players clearly delighted to be back playing and keen to make an early impression.
And that came after just four minutes when Odsonne Edouard latched on to the ball after Ryan Christie had driven into the Nice area.
The Frenchman rounded the goalkeeper and coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net, but Celtic’s delight was short-lived after VAR ruled out the goal for an apparent infringement by Christie in the build-up.
Still, Neil Lennon would have been pleased with the way his side were playing, taking the game to their French opponents.
On 18 minutes, Greg Taylor delivered a superb cross into the box, but Edouard was unable to direct his header on target, while at the other end Scott Bain was called into action to deny Theo Pionnier.
Celtic immediately surged forward and another good move down the left hand side saw the ball cut back for Christie, but his goalbound shot was pushed away by Walter Benitez in the Nice goal.
The French side were starting to come into the game as the half wore on, and Jeremie Frimpong was called upon to prevent Ihsan Sacko getting a shot away inside the area.
But on 38 minutes, Nice managed to make the breakthrough. Danish striker, Kasper Dolberg, who was their top goalscorer last season as they finished sixth in Ligue 1, managed to skip mast a couple of challenges inside the Celtic area before steering a right-foot shot beyond Scott Bain from 10 yards out.
The second half started in a similar vein to the opening 45 minutes, with Celtic taking the game to their French opponents, and Christie had an early chance after being set up by Edouard, but his shot was narrowly wide.
And Christie forced Benitez into a good save on 55 minutes when he connected with a James Forrest cross.
On the hour mark, Neil Lennon replaced his starting XI, with Celtic now lining up: Hazard, Elhamed, Bitton, Welsh, Bolingoli, Ntcham, Soro, Dembele, Robertson, Henderson, Klimala.
Nice also made wholesale changes to their line-up, but it didn’t interrupt the flow of the game, which remained competitive and entertaining.
Bolingoli had an effort on 70 minutes which just went wide of the post before Klimala equalised for the Hoops three minutes later.
The Polish striker did well to close down the Nice substitute goalkeeper, dispossessing him before slotting the ball into the net from a couple of yards out. It was no more than Celtic deserved for their efforts in the heat of Lyon.
Ewan Henderson had a shot late in the game which went wide, but the match finished 1-1. It was an impressive showing from the Hoops on their first outing since early March. Next up is Lyon on Thursday night.
CELTIC: Bain, Frimpong, Jullien, Ajer, Taylor, Brown, McGregor, Forrest, Christie, Elyounoussi, Edouard.
Subs: Doohan, Hazard, Bitton, Klimala, Soro, Ntcham, Bolingoli, Connell, Robertson, Elhamed, Henderson, McInroy, Welsh, Dembele.
NICE: Benitez, Pionnier, Bambu, Pelmard, Kamara, Makengo, Thuram, Lees-Melou, Sacko, DOlberg, Gouiri.
Subs: Boulhendi, Cardinale, Dante, Atal, Hamache, Mestrallet, Daniliuc, Trouillet, Boudaoui, Parsemain, Ben Seghir, Brazao