2022-09-06: Celtic 0-3 Real Madrid, European Cup

Match Pictures | Matches: 2022 – 2023

Trivia

  • KO: 20:00; Champions League Group Match 1; Tuesday; BT Sports
  • Real Madrid have 14 European Cup titles and Celtic one, making this group net total the largest in the competition. Real Madrid are the current European Cup Champions.
  • Shaktar Donestk in other group game shock Leipzig in a 4-1 victory over them in Germany! Celtic face Shaktar next Wednesday. RB Leipzig sacked Domenico Tedesco the next day; ex-Celt Andy Hinkel was his assistant and so gone too (so no reunion match v Celtic).
  • Starfelt out due to knee injury. Kyogo plays despite injury worries from last weekend.
  • Semi-automated VAR offside launches in the Champions League today
  • Police are investigating after a young fan was hurt after being hit by a flare before the match. The nine-year-old supporter was taken to the medical room at Celtic Park for treatment and then transferred to hospital. It is understood the incident took place near the Green Brigade section of the stadium where a pyrotechnic display was visible ahead of kick-off.
  • UEFA Fine Celtic fans for their ‘firework’s display at the match.
  • Crypto.com pulled out of a sponsorship deal with Uefa for the Champions League.The cryptocurrency exchange site was set to replace Gazprom after Uefa severed links with the Russian energy provider over the war in Ukraine.
  • Leicester City FC: Ex-Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers vows to fight on as Leicester boss and insists he has ‘never lost any belief’ despite FIVE successive league defeats! Bottom of the EPL with 1pt, lost 5-2 to Brighton.
  • UK Politics: New PM voted in by Tories as their party leader after Boris Johnson was cut: PM Liz Truss!
  • @timesscotland The Times: Sevco: have dismissed claims that an allegedly fraudulent bid to recruit investors in the club was accidentally leaked by the singer Darius Campbell shortly before his mysterious death

Summary

Its Angelotti vs Ancelotti time

“Celtic have an asset that should not be underestimated. Its stadium, Celtic Park, is one of the hottest in Europe. A ‘green hell’…”
Marca newspaper, Spanish Press

“There’s nowhere quite like it”
BT Sport on Celtic TV; https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1567241544670892035?s=20&t=ix9DOS3e7FNSFzBwbZwAkA

Pre Match:
“We’ve got Champions League support, we’ve just got to become a Champions League team.”
Ange Postecoglou

“Of course the aim as always for this club is to win the Champions League – but for now we are fully focused on the group stage. Celtic have a big tradition and we know their fans will create a big atmosphere.”
Vinicius Junior

Pre Match: Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti: “On Tuesday we’ve got the most difficult game of this first half of the season.” “We’re going to be up against a team playing great football & we have to be ready.”

Real Madrid’s Rodrygo warned Celtic it doesn’t matter if manager Carlo Ancelotti rotates his squad for tomorrow’s Champions League opener because they are so powerful in every position (The Times).

Post-Match:

Ancelotti: “We suffered like I expected to suffer. Because, here at Celtic Park, you suffer. Against this team, you suffer. This team knows how to suffer without losing their heads.”

McGregor: ‘I don’t know how it stayed out’

Ange: “You’ll learn at this level you’ll get punished if you don’t take your chances.” “These fans deserves to be competing against clubs like Real Madrid on a regular basis. I want to give them that and feel that responsibility.”

Tony Kroos impressed by the atmosphere: ‘They’re not negative to their opponents, they just supporting their team. The atmosphere was great.’

Tony Kroos Real Madrid: “I was being asked several times which (away) stadium is my favourite. And there is a new number 1, I can tell you! Celtic Park. It has been just crazy! We came out and the atmosphere was good. But then the Champions League anthem came up and I thought the stadium will crash down. And then they did it again (when the did the huddle). When we lined up for the team picture I told David Alaba that it feels like we are already 0-2 down. Just insane!” (see article below)

MLE of KDS:

Celtic just out-performed the champions of Europe. Unfortunately it was only for 45/50mins.

All things being equal though that is incredible. This wasn’t using a park the bus anti-football style of play either, this was playing attacking rip-roaring football with the full support and backing of one of the best crowds Celtic Park has seen in a long time.

We didn’t take our chances and then Ancelotti brought on Rudiger, pulled their whole team back, changed their pressing point and hit us on the counter. He did it last season against City to great effect as well.

Compared to our last European game this was incredible; not one of our players looked out of place and if we can play like that against the other teams in our group we can absolutely finish 2nd.

MSK of KDS:

1st half performance was way above anything I was expecting from us. Superb stuff and the only thing missing was a goal.

I liked (BT TV analyst) Michael Owen’s analogy at FT when he compared it to a boxing match and said that Celtic failed to land any knockout blows in that opening half and then tired in the second half of the “fight”.

Thought that summed it up well. Once Real got in front we didn’t have enough left in the tank to go chasing the game and they picked us off easily enough from there. It may have been oh so different if we’d managed to get in front and who knows, maybe we could’ve picked them off if we were defending a lead?

But football at this level is a very harsh business and there’s no prizes for having a good 45 minutes etc…

The positives are that we weren’t totally outclassed from start to finish (far from it) and we made Real Madrid up their game in the 2nd half. There’s enough positives though to take from the game and the real test starts next week against Shakhtar

David Storey journalist: “Only by taking on an opponent by attacking them, by trying to expose their weaknesses and by exposing your own in the process, can you truly learn how good you are and in doing so place yourself amongst the elite.”

Twitter:

Luka Modric (Real Madrid player) @lukamodric10: Special atmosphere. Thank you Celtic Park.

David_Alaba  (Real Madrid player)· 1h Crazy atmosphere last night in Glasgow. Respect!

@GrahamSpiers · 9h Sobering for Celtic in the end. But that was a terrific first half from Ange Postecoglou’s team. The truth is, Real stepped up, played keep-ball and showed their class. The laws of the football universe were applied.

@McLaughlin_1888 · 1h We’ve all attended European matches were losing that first goal deflates the crowd. A second even moreso. A third would see the stadium steadily empty. Last night the support stood by the team throughout and let our manager know we appreciate what he’s striving for for Celtic

@celticrumours: Yes Hatate’s passing was very good but McGregor was the best player in a Celtic jersey by a mile.

@TheCelticWiki: The experience and class of a great Madrid team told in the end. But the progress we’re making under Ange was there to see. A night which paradoxically was both disappointing and encouraging.

@TEnglishSport: Celtic were really excellent up until the first goal. The better side against a brilliant team. True to themselves. If only one of the chances went in. A piece from Celtic Park

@AM: If you don;t take your chances….. Many, many positives to take for Celtic though

@Etims: Just in from game. Thought we did well for 50+ mins. Great chance to go ahead missed then they score a few mins later. After that Madrid were a class above. Third goal a work of beauty. Massive learning curve for players & Ange. We’ll learn a lot & develop from this

@ChrisLostBhoy · 9h Celtic were fucking magnificent tonight. So proud of the team. Tonight isn’t what defines this group

@StatmanDave: Celtic have been absolutely brilliant in the first half. Dominated the ball at times. Modern 4-3-3 with inverted FBs & wide wingers. Loads of rotation with quality & bravery on the ball. A bit more luck & they would be 1-0 up. Postecoglou-ball.

Teams

Celtic

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1 Hart
  • 88 Juranovic
  • 20 Carter-Vickers
  • 6 Jenz
  • 3 Taylor
  • 42 McGregor
  • 41 Hatate Substituted for Turnbull at 72′minutes
  • 11 Abada Substituted for Maeda at 45′minutesBooked at 64mins
  • 33 O’Riley Substituted for Mooy at 72′minutes
  • 17 Neves Filipe Substituted for Haksabanovic at 82′minutes
  • 7 Giakoumakis Substituted for Furuhashi at 72′minutes

Substitutes

  • 8Furuhashi
  • 9Haksabanovic
  • 13Mooy
  • 14Turnbull
  • 16McCarthy
  • 25Bernabei
  • 29Bain
  • 31Siegrist
  • 38Maeda
  • 49Forrest
  • 56Ralston
  • 57Welsh

Goals:
Assists:

Real Madrid

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Courtois
  • 2Carvajal
  • 3Militão Substituted forRüdigerat 45′minutes
  • 4Alaba
  • 23MendyBooked at 10mins
  • 10Modric Substituted forAsensioat 80′minutes
  • 18Tchouaméni Substituted forCamavingaat 71′minutes
  • 8Kroos
  • 15Valverde
  • 9Benzema Substituted forE Hazardat 30′minutes
  • 20Vinícius Júnior Substituted forRodrygoat 80′minutes

Substitutes

  • 6Nacho
  • 7E Hazard
  • 11Asensio
  • 12Camavinga
  • 13Lunin
  • 17Vázquez
  • 19Ceballos
  • 21Rodrygo
  • 22Rüdiger
  • 24Mariano
  • 26López Andúgar

Goals:

  • Vinícius Júnior (56′ minutes), 
  • Modric (60′ minutes), 
  • E Hazard (77′ minutes)

Assists:

  • Valverde (56′ minutes), 
  • Carvajal (77′ minutes)
Referee: Sandro Schärer
Attendance: 57,057

Articles

  • Match Report (see below)

Pictures

Match Links

Stats

Celtic
Real Madrid
Possession
Home35%
Away65%
Shots
Home10
Away12
Shots on Target
Home4
Away6
Corners
Home5
Away3
Fouls
Home9
Away4

Articles

Ange Postecoglou reacts to what Celtic fans did after the Real Madrid game – ‘there is no starker reminder’

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/ange-postecoglou-reacts-to-what-celtic-fans-did-after-the-real-madrid-game-there-is-no-starker-reminder-3833862
Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou refused to play the plucky loser role in batting away any suggestions of gallantry from his side in their 3-0 Champions League loss to Real Madrid.
By Andrew Smith
Tuesday, 6th September 2022, 11:41 pm

The Australian’s name was chanted in defiance and appreciation by the Celtic Park denizens across the closing minutes after the home team had gone toe-to-toe with the holders for the first hour before succumbing. But for Postecoglou that acclaim wasn’t a source of pride but instead provides the fuel for ensuring his team can be on the right side of the “small margins” in such an arena – starting with next Wednesday’s Warsaw assignment against a Shakhtar Dontesk side that thumped Leipzig 4-1 in Germany.

“I just feel the responsibility of bringing this football club to this level. That’s what these fans deserve,” he said. “There is no starker reminder of that than the reception they gave us after the game. They deserve to see their football club competing with the likes of Real Madrid on a regular basis, and really competing. I feel that responsibility and I want to get us up to this level so that this club and these fans get what they deserve. For us as a team, you don’t need a reminder that it’s fine margins when you’re playing against the best. And when you have opportunities you need to take them. That was evident today. If we scored the first goal and put pressure on them then they would have needed to open up. We could then have taken control. And we had those chances. It’s different if you don’t have the chances and you don’t create anything, if the opposition have got you pinned back. Then there is stuff you can learn. But I think what we learned today we already knew. We’ve just got to be really clinical in both boxes.

“All of us [the players and me as manager] want to compete at the highest level. And we want success. There is no other way to feel but disappointed. It wasn’t through a lack of effort, commitment or belief. The boys gave everything they could, but if you want to bridge the gap you have to be disappointed with a night like this and make sure you come back stronger next time.”

Postecoglou was asked whether he felt optimistic that gap could be bridged as early as next week. “I feel determined, not optimistic. I feel that responsibility. I want us to be a Champions League football club. For that to happen we have got to come out next week in a game that again is going to be a tough game, with fine margins, and be clinical in those kind of areas. It is not about being optimistic or pessimistic about it, it is about being determined to bridge that gap.”

Carlo Ancelotti admits Real Madrid were ‘worried’ about Celtic as he praises ‘fantastic’ atmosphere

Carlo Ancelotti admitted his Real Madrid side were worried about facing Celtic after their thrashing of Rangers and admitted they had to suffer on their way to a 3-0 win.
By Joel Sked
Tuesday, 6th September 2022, 11:02 pm
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/carlo-ancelotti-admits-real-madrid-were-worried-about-celtic-as-he-praises-fantastic-atmosphere-3833846
The home side were the better side for most of the first-half with Liel Abada going close twice and Callum McGregor hitting the woodwork.

Daizen Maeda fluffed his lines after the break before the visitors took control with goals from Vinicius, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard.

“I wasn’t angry,” Ancelotti said, regarding the first-half performance. “I can’t get angry with this team. It is true that we struggled but in the end we got there.
“Second half we did play well. Every team can struggle including us but in the end we kept our heads and managed to stay in the game.

“Celtic is a good team. We were worried about the game because we knew what they did against Rangers. We suffered in the first half but it was normal to suffer here. The atmosphere at the stadium is fantastic. We are happy to show good football to these supporters.”

Ancelotti believes the experience of playing at Celtic Park will be of huge benefit to the younger players in his squad. While Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are all used to such environments, the Spanish giants had a number of individuals 24 and under.

“They like to play football and to play in this kind of atmosphere and this kind of stadium. It is a good experience.”

Callum McGregor insists Celtic ‘definitely belong at this level’ after Real Madrid performance

Callum McGregor felt Celtic showed they belonged in the Champions League group stages with their display against Real Madrid despite going down to a 3-0 defeat to the reigning European champions.
By Matthew Elder
Tuesday, 6th September 2022, 11:31 pm
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/callum-mcgregor-insists-celtic-definitely-belong-at-this-level-after-real-madrid-performance-3833858

The Hoops threatened to cause a major upset amid a rousing atmosphere inside Celtic Park but spurned several first-half chances to take what would have been a deserved first-half lead over Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Liel Abada failed to convert a gilt-edged chance inside 40 seconds and passed up a second opportunity to beat Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois before McGregor struck the inside of the post with a sweet strike from outside the area.

Abada’s half-time replacement Daizen Maeda also fluffed a glorious close range opening at the start of the second-half and Celtic were made to pay by a clinical Los Blancos side with a two-goal blitz inside four minutes turning the game on its head.

Vinicius Junior, who scored the winner in last season’s final against Liverpool, finished off a flowing counter-attack to put the visitors ahead on 56 minutes before 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric curled home a second before Celtic had fully regrouped.

Eden Hazard – a first-half replacement for the injured striker Karim Benzema – tapped home the third with 12 minutes left to seal a comfortable win in the end for Carlo Ancelloti’s star-studded side.
How the Celtic players rated against Real Madrid

Celtic captain McGregor, speaking to BT Sport after the match, said: “It was really enjoyable. It’s ultimately disappointing to lose three goals at home but I think there was enough in the game to show we definitely belong at this level.

“We took the game to Madrid for large parts. There was just a little 10 to 15 minute spell when we lost concentration and you can see that’s why they are the holders. They have so much quality on the counter attack, and we knew that.

“We tried to limit that as much as we could. We felt at that point in the game we were on top and it was maybe just a little bit naive in terms of sticking to what we were doing.”

Celtic played the same front-foot attacking style that has brought them success at domestic level and McGregor admitted he felt confident beforehand that his side could take the game to such world class opposition.

“It was a great showing from the lads and we’ve been building to that type of game,” he said.

“We want to play our football against anyone so we’re not just going to change our style.

“We just committed to it even more, trust ourselves and trust in the manager, and he gives us full trust to do that as well.

“We created some big chances and the difference at this level is they create one clear-cut chance and take it.

“But we’ll learn from that and the boys can be proud of themselves in terms of the level of performance.”

The other match in Group F saw Shakhtar Donetsk pull off a surprise 4-1 win away at second seeds RB Leipzig with former Celtic forward Marian Shved scoring twice for the Ukrainian side.

Gallant Celtic could have had their own 3-0 scoreline against Real Madrid – but class and composure told in the end

https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/gallant-celtic-could-have-had-their-own-3-0-scoreline-against-real-madrid-but-class-and-composure-told-in-the-end-3833844
Class and composure told in the end as Real Madrid did what ought to have been expected of them in picking off Celtic with three second-half goals in the clubs’ Champions League opener.
By Andrew Smith
Tuesday, 6th September 2022, 10:54 pm

Yet, Ange Postecoglou’s men will take heart rather than lose it as a result of the manner they competed with the holders in a thrilling first period, where they genuinely could have fashioned a 3-0 scoreline of their own so real was their attacking menace – Liel Adada failing to convert when twice one-on-one and Calum McGregor cracking the inside of the post. The home team were then fuelled by an intensity they could not sustain to lead them to fall prey to the true masters on this most unforgiving stage.

Yet, in the closing minutes, as Celtic supporters might have been expected to file to the exits as they licked their wounds over becoming all too giddy at the possibility of causing an upset, they chose – like their manager – to go down a different path. The sang the name of Ange Postecoglou at the top of their lungs in recognition of a gallantry of which he was the architect. It counted for nothing because Carlo Ancelotti’s men stepped up their levels following the break to hit Celtic with a knock-out one-two of goals inside four minutes. For the 56th minute opener, Federico Valverde paced down the right before crossing for Vinicius Jr to turn in, before sorcerer Luka Modric curled in from 10 yards, Celtic then starting to struggle more and more to close down their visitors in and around their area. Factors in Eden Hazard tucking in from close range 12 minutes from time.

It may have been five years since Celtic Park had played host to a Champions League encounter, but nothing proved different about the courtship such encounters elicit. It is de rigueur for opposition managers to sweet talk about the attractiveness and arduousness of competing in the bone-shaking cauldron in Glasgow’s east end. Madrid manager Ancelotti certainly played along, offering sugar sentiments about the “difficulties” in playing at the stadium. At least he possessed a genuine insight in having failed to win in three trips to the arena with AC Milan (which he had no real recollection, notably). However, as doesn’t then always tend to follow on, when it counted the 63-year-old Italian demonstrated that he wasn’t just feeding toffee to his hosts. That became obvious when his first XI contained only one change from the starting line-up that, you know, just happened to bag the blooming trophy with victory over Liverpool in Paris in May; £72m summer arrival Aurelien Tchouameni filling the midfield berth vacated by the now Manchester United-based Casemiro.

It was a mark of respect for Postecoglou and his team over which the Australian would have been chuffed. In his bullish fashion, the Celtic manager maintained he not only hoped that the Spaniards would be fully tooled up, but that they would play to their very best in order to gauge where his team stood. You had to wonder if he privately was having second thoughts about such convictions as Karim Benzema (forced off with injury on the half hour), Luka Modric, Vinícius Jr, Thibault Courtois, Toni Kroos et al strode out on to the Parkhead pitch.

The Celtic manager unapologetically chose to strike an optimistic tone about how his team could fare against the toppermost of the toppermost in the global football firmament by daring to play the nought-to-60, high-pressing attacking style. The problem was that his team’s supporters seemed to gulp this down along with the Kool Aid in being gripped by the delusion a Madrid that had claimed five of the past nine Champions Leagues could find Celtic and their environs too hot to handle.

It seemed a madness, in no small part engendered by the 4-0 win over Rangers that was always destined to butt up against reality in a painful fashion. Yet, though it ultimately did, this should not take away from how genuinely exhilarating it was to watch Postecolgou’s team really take it to their illustrious visitors and unsettle them in an engrossing first period. The Celtic manager had said that if his players showed no fear they could not be failures – irrespective of the outcome. In that thrilling opening period – which followed an eardrum piercing wall of noise for the Zardok the Priest tournament theme – the mettle of the Scottish champions and their ability to manipulate the ball in tight areas against the very best was eye-popping. Such valiant defeats always seem to entail nearlys and ‘what ifs’. However, the disorientation that Celtic caused in the Madrid ranks in the opening 20 minutes made such feelings inescapable. They really did have Madrid on the rack. Within seconds, Abada choked his finish to allow Courtois to mop up after the winger had wriggled through on goal. This happened not once but twice to the Israeli in the opening exchanges. And he will have nightmares about the outcome when a sumptuous sweeping ball from Jota in the 13th minute sent him in on the Belgian keeper. He seemed certain to score, he is so lethal in such situations, but instead clipped a tame effort into the arms of Courtois. Celtic forced a series of corners throughout this lightning spell, but the Madrid goal could not be punctured. Not by an almighty biff from Reo Hatate the keeper had to batter away, or a ferocious drive by McGregor that beat him all ends up only to crash against the inside of the right post and bounce out. All indications it perhaps wasn’t meant to be, which Ancelotti’s men doubled down on with the devastation they saved for the second 45.

Celtic’s dreamers are defeated by Real Madrid on a Champions League night where anything felt possible

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/celtics-dreamers-are-defeated-in-paradise-but-the-champions-league-was-made-for-nights-like-this-1837413
The Champions League has missed Celtic Park as much as the old stadium has missed these European nights – they just couldn’t fell the giants of Real Madrid this time
Celtic players applaud supporters following the UEFA Champions League Group F match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Picture date: Tuesday September 6, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Celtic. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.
Celtic are shown the difference between kings and pretenders by champions Real Madrid (Photo: PA)
author avatar image
By Daniel Storey
Chief Football Writer
September 7, 2022 7:19 am

Celtic 0-3 Real Madrid (Vinicius 56′, Modric 60′, Hazard 77′)

CELTIC PARK — Welcome to Paradise, where for most of one night you can believe that anything is possible.

Celtic temporarily went toe to toe with the European champions and offered the best version of themselves. They dreamt of more, of unfathomable victory and humbled champions. Reality wins, this time.

Regrets? Celtic will have a few: that they allowed fatigue to sink in and concentration momentarily to drop; that they wasted chances at 0-0 and so lost their view of dreamland; that the competition to which they return is so weighted against them; that you can push as hard as you can and it is still not enough. Those are the margins between kings and pretenders.

And these are the nights for which Parkhead was built, for which Celtic live. There were cliches of modern football support everywhere: light show, half-and-half scarves, techno music when crowd noise would do just as well.

But above it all, authenticity bursts through and stands above all else. The sound rolls around the stadium, beginning and ending with the bouncing furore of the Green Brigade.

Paradise indeed 💚

The atmosphere always notches up a level on Champions League nights.

Special. pic.twitter.com/HXMWS8ptMW
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 6, 2022

Before kick-off, it appeared that everyone was having a bucket list experience. They simultaneously collected in ones and twos and three, but also hundreds and thousands.

As You’ll Never Walk Alone played out before kick off, 55,000 scarves are held up above 55,000 heads, some of them silhouetted gloriously against the sky at the top of the North Stand.

Then came the Champions League anthem, welcomed as if it marked the birth of a new country. It was a genuinely powerful experience.
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For the first hour, we had a wonderful match because it was a wonderful contest. These were teams of opposites, controlled possession vs chaotic whirring, as if a thousand bees had been told that they had 90 minutes to collect enough pollen to last them a lifetime.

There were spells when Carlo Ancelotti watched his team pass the ball with ludicrous ease, but he also repeatedly threw his arms up in frustration as the Celtic swarm chipped away at their composure.

Celtic legitimately should have scored the first goal, Liel Abada twice snatching at chances assisted by glorious slide rule passes.

Callum McGregor hit the inside of the post with Thibaut Courtois left watching as if following a plane cross the sky. Every time they won a corner or attacking throw-in, it was marked by a semi-deafening roar.

Callum McGregor came so close to making the Celtic fans go wild! 😱

Such a clean strike! #UCL pic.twitter.com/mE7uo6M8H1
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 6, 2022

They did not dally over free-kicks to catch their breath or run down the clock, but tried to catch Real Madrid off guard.

Madrid eventually answered the call. Ancelotti presumably reasoned that one counter attack would be all it took, four of five component parts that clicked in 10 touches.

It left Vinicius Jr in space, which is the most dangerous weapon to place at his disposal. The Brazilian was Real’s best player and their constant out ball.

If Real are the best in the world at one thing, it is widening a crack until it is big enough to climb through. Goals two and three soon followed.

Ancelotti’s team excels not because they are always the better team, but because they make the most of the minutes when they are. If Liverpool, Manchester City and Paris-Saint Germain found that out the hard way, Celtic were always likely to suffer the same fate.

Let us put Real Madrid into some context. They won as many Champions League matches last season as Celtic have since 2007. Their revenue is roughly nine times higher than Celtic’s.

Real have signed 64 different players for higher fees than Celtic’s record signing. It is not 2007 anymore, let alone 1967. Celtic are financial minnows.

But to an extent, both teams got what they came for. It strikes that to Ange Postecoglou, a football team has a choice: be happy with existing or try to truly live.

To sit back, dig in and hold out and win would be an achievement, but of what? Grim determination and defensive solidity – that is not what they came to see. That would merely be the victory of the underdog, which to Postecoglou would be a skeletal victory.
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Only by taking on an opponent by attacking them, by trying to expose their weaknesses and by exposing your own in the process, can you truly learn how good you are and in doing so place yourself amongst the elite.

Lose in those circumstances and you can seek out some glory in failure, particularly when there are other battles to come. Match your vaunted opponent and you allow yourself to breathe rarefied air.

There will be those who dismiss all that as romantic hogwash. Perhaps they are right; what is the reason for competition if not to win – is all else not merely window dressing?

But Celtic are not going to win the Champions League this season. That presents sticking to your theory of how your football team should play, to entertain its public, as just a potential strategy, but the only strategy that makes sense.

This was not a night on which Celtic felled a giant. But they celebrated the occasion of their own new start. For now, that is plenty enough. They stood and they sang at 0-0 and they did the same at 0-3. They have missed the Champions League here; it has missed them too.

BBC
By Thomas DuncanBBC Scotland

Last updated on

6 September 20226 September 2022.From the section European Football
Vinicius scores for Real Madrid against Celtic
Vinicius Junior’s goal broke Celtic’s resistance

Celtic were ultimately outclassed by holders Real Madrid in their Champions League opener, despite a lively and encouraging start in Glasgow.

Five years after they last featured at Europe’s top table, Celtic gave Real a fright in a frantic first half by creating a series of chances, including a shot off a post from Callum McGregor.

But after the break the visitors roused themselves, and goals from Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard showed their class and secured victory.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side – who lost Karim Benzema to injury in the first half – join Shakhtar Donetsk at the top of Group F after they defeated RB Leipzig.

Celtic travel to Warsaw to face the Ukranian side next Wednesday in their second group game, aiming to get their campaign back on track, after their grand return against European football royalty ended in disappointment.

Real handcuff Celtic’s lightning in arresting show
Podcast: ‘Postecoglou sounds disappointed… that’s encouraging’
We showed we belong at this level – McGregor

But it was not a dispiriting night at a bouncing Celtic Park as the Scottish champions made a good impression on the biggest stage.

Ange Postecoglou vowed his team would be true to their front-foot style despite Real’s quality, and it was in evidence straight from kick-off as they pressed Thibaut Courtois into kicking the ball out after 12 seconds. From the throw-in, Liel Abada lashed just wide as the stadium roared its approval.

It was not a flash in the pan either, with the Israeli winger set free in behind the defence after a wonderful pass from Jota, but his rushed shot went straight into Courtois’ hands.

And after McGregor rattled an upright from the edge of the area and half-time substitute Daizen Maeda scuffed a brilliant opportunity from six yards, there was a sense of foreboding that Celtic’s missed chances would haunt them.

Almost inevitably the five-time European champions Modric and Tony Kroos grew in influence and Real did punish Celtic’s profligacy in a beautifully effective four minutes.

A flowing move which started at the feet of Courtois ended with Vinicius planting Federico Valverde’s cross in the bottom corner, before Hazard set up Modric to caress home at the second attempt.

With Celtic suffering from their first-half exertions, Real controlled the ball with greater ease and put together a stunning 33-pass move which culminated in Kroos picking out Dani Carvajal, who stroked across goal for Hazard to tap home their third.

Celtic kept fighting to the end and still looked a threat in flurries, but ultimately they were outclassed in the second-half by the 14-time kings of Europe, whose quality shone through.
Player of the match – Luka Modric
Luka Mdoric
There is little else to say about the Croatian maestro. Modric turns 37 on Friday but shows no sign of slowing down. He ran the show in the second half.
Celtic show mettle before Modric show – analysis

With two minutes left on the clock, and at 3-0 down, the Celtic fans were singing the name of their manager over and over. It shows how revered Postecoglou is because of the style of football he has brought, and it was on full show in the first half.

The midfield trio of McGregor, Reo Hatate, and Matt O’Riley buzzed about, Giorgos Giakoumakis was relentless up front, while centre-backs Moritz Jenz and Cameron Carter-Vickers defended diligently.

Had Abada showed his usual ruthless streak, things might have been different. As it was, Kroos and Modric did what Kroos and Modric do, superbly supported by precocious Frenchman Aurelien Tchouameni.

Kroos completed 119 passes on his own and his sublime ball for the third goal encapsulated his ability, and Modric just glided across the Celtic Park turf, stroking in the second goal with the outside of his boot.

The last time the little Croatian was in Glasgow he took Scotland apart at Euro 2020, also slamming in a beautiful goal. He obviously loves playing here, and was a joy to watch once more even as he turns 37.

Celtic were chasing shadows slightly by the end, but they can take encouragement their style can cause problems against the best, with RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk to come.
What they said
Postecoglou feels ‘responsibility’ to Celtic fans

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: “Obviously disappointed with the outcome. I thought the first goal was always going to be important and up until that point we were well in the game.

“If anything, we had the better chances and you need to capitalise on them – and we didn’t.”

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti: “”It was like two games, first half we suffered a bit with intensity, second half we had control.

“We were not surprised [with Celtic’s start]. We knew they could start really fast. We were lucky because they hit the post. Second half, was much better. When we opened to scoring it was easier for us to control the ball.”
Real ‘suffered in the first half’ at Celtic Park
Match stats

Celtic have never won their opening game of a Champions League campaign, with this the 11th time they have failed to do so (D2 L9). Their last three have all been defeats by at least three goals – 0-7 v Barcelona in 2016-17, 0-5 v Paris Saint-Germain in 2017-18 and 0-3 v Real this season.
Only one of the last 28 title-holders have lost their first match of the following season’s competition (W17 D10), with Liverpool losing 2-0 at Napoli in 2019-20.
Since the start of last season, Real have won 100% of their away games in the group stage (4/4) without conceding a single goal, and scoring 12 times themselves.
There were 33 uninterrupted passes in the build-up to Hazard’s goal; since 2003-04 (as far back as data is available), this is the most in the build-up to any of Real Madrid’s 434 goals in the competition in this period.
At 36 years and 362 days, Modric became the oldest player to score for Real in the European Cup/Champions League since Ferenc Puskas in September 1965 (38y 173d v Feyenoord).
Vinicius Junior has been directly involved in 17 goals in his last 18 appearances across all competitions, scoring nine and providing eight assists.
Modric made his 100th Champions League appearance for Real, becoming just the eighth player to reach this milestone for the club (joining Iker Casillas, Raul, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, Roberto Carlos, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo).

  • Match ends, Celtic 0, Real Madrid 3.

  • Full Time

    Second Half ends, Celtic 0, Real Madrid 3.

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    Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Antonio Rüdiger.

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    Attempt missed. Rodrygo (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Ferland Mendy following a fast break.

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    Attempt missed. Daizen Maeda (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Callum McGregor.

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    Attempt saved. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Eden Hazard.

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    Attempt saved. Sead Haksabanovic (Celtic) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Greg Taylor.

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    Offside, Real Madrid. Thibaut Courtois tries a through ball, but Rodrygo is caught offside.

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    Foul by Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid).

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    Sead Haksabanovic (Celtic) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Celtic. Sead Haksabanovic replaces Jota.

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    Attempt missed. Jota (Celtic) right footed shot from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Greg Taylor.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Marco Asensio replaces Luka Modric.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Rodrygo replaces Vinícius Júnior.

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    Attempt missed. Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Jota with a cross.

  • Goal!

    Goal! Celtic 0, Real Madrid 3. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Daniel Carvajal.

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    Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the right wing.

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    Foul by Jota (Celtic).

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Celtic. Kyogo Furuhashi replaces Giorgos Giakoumakis.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Celtic. David Turnbull replaces Reo Hatate.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Celtic. Aaron Mooy replaces Matt O’Riley.

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    Attempt missed. Matt O’Riley (Celtic) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Josip Juranovic with a cross.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Eduardo Camavinga replaces Aurélien Tchouaméni.

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    Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Cameron Carter-Vickers.

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    Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).

  • Booking

    Daizen Maeda (Celtic) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

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    Luka Modric (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Daizen Maeda (Celtic).

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    Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Josip Juranovic.

  • Goal!

    Goal! Celtic 0, Real Madrid 2. Luka Modric (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner.

  • Goal!

    Goal! Celtic 0, Real Madrid 1. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Federico Valverde.

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    Attempt blocked. Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Federico Valverde.

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    Attempt saved. Daizen Maeda (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Josip Juranovic.

  • Second Half

    Second Half begins Celtic 0, Real Madrid 0.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Antonio Rüdiger replaces Éder Militão because of an injury.

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Celtic. Daizen Maeda replaces Liel Abada.

  • Half Time

    First Half ends, Celtic 0, Real Madrid 0.

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    Attempt saved. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Eden Hazard.

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    Offside, Celtic. Callum McGregor tries a through ball, but Jota is caught offside.

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    Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).

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    Attempt saved. Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Eden Hazard.

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    Attempt missed. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Daniel Carvajal with a cross.

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    Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).

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    Foul by Éder Militão (Real Madrid).

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    Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Offside, Real Madrid. Toni Kroos tries a through ball, but Daniel Carvajal is caught offside.

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    Daniel Carvajal (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic).

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    Eden Hazard (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Moritz Jenz (Celtic).

  • Substitution

    Substitution, Real Madrid. Eden Hazard replaces Karim Benzema because of an injury.

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    Attempt missed. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Daniel Carvajal.

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    Attempt missed. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Federico Valverde.

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    Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Éder Militão.

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    Callum McGregor (Celtic) hits the left post with a left footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by Giorgos Giakoumakis.

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    Attempt saved. Reo Hatate (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

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    Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Toni Kroos.

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    Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Foul by Matt O’Riley (Celtic).

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    Attempt saved. Liel Abada (Celtic) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jota with a through ball.

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    Foul by David Alaba (Real Madrid).

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    Matt O’Riley (Celtic) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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    Corner, Real Madrid. Conceded by Josip Juranovic.

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    Attempt blocked. Luka Modric (Real Madrid) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Karim Benzema.

  • Booking

    Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

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    Foul by Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid).

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    Giorgos Giakoumakis (Celtic) wins a free kick on the right wing.

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    Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid) wins a free kick on the left wing.

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    Foul by Josip Juranovic (Celtic).

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    Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Daniel Carvajal.

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    Corner, Celtic. Conceded by Éder Militão.

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    Attempt blocked. Liel Abada (Celtic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Giorgos Giakoumakis.

  • Kick Off

    First Half begins.

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    Lineups are announced and players are warming up.

Celtic 0-3 Real Madrid: European champions handcuff Scots’ lightning in arresting show

By Tom EnglishBBC Scotland at Celtic Park

Last updated on

6 September 20226 September 2022.From the section Celtic
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62815515

When Luka Modric ghosted into the Celtic penalty box, found the sliver of space he needed, and curled his shot past Joe Hart with the outside of his majestic right boot, you had to sit back and admire a genius at work.

Thirty-seven on Friday, the great man is still a thing of wonder. All those league titles and all those Champions Leagues and yet he remains as hungry and as classy as ever.

In that moment – and to borrow a line from Muhammad Ali, who delivered a knockout blow or two of his own in his time – he handcuffed Celtic’s lightning, threw their thunder in jail. In his orchestration of this Madrid team, Modric’s so mean he makes medicine sick.

At 2-0 there was no way back for Celtic. Long before it became three – death by passing leading up to Eden Hazard’s goal – a stadium that had been gloriously raucous had been reduced to near silence, a home support that spent the first half in thrall to their deeply impressive team now knew that the game was up.

Bold Celtic outclassed by clinical Real
Podcast: ‘Postecoglou sounds disappointed… that’s encouraging’
We showed we belong at this level – McGregor

The lesson, not that anybody needed reminding of it, was writ large across the Glasgow sky. If you don’t take your chances when you are on top – and Celtic were most definitely on top in the opening half – then you’re liable to suffer when playing against the elite.

Allow a champion off the ropes and they’re going to take you out – and Real did. First through the slickness of Federico Valverde linking with Vinicius Junior – the double act that came up with a Champions League-winning goal last season – then through Modric and, finally, through that blizzard of passing and movement finished off by Hazard.
Fine margins make difference in brutal terrain

Cruel? Perhaps, but this is brutal terrain Celtic are exploring now. Savage and yet, in the minutes leading up to kick-off, utterly compelling and ear-splittingly loud.

The big-time had returned to Celtic Park, and how Celtic Park basked in it. Zadok the Priest blasted out across the east end of Glasgow and, in the those early moments of giddy hope, there was something celestial about the place.

We wondered if Celtic could impose their style, Ange Postecoglou’s style, on a team with all the trophies in the world, players replete with La Ligas and Champions Leagues, Bundesligas and English Premierships. There was a World Cup winner in there in Germany’s Toni Kroos, a Copa America winner in the shape of Brazil’s Eder Militao.

Pretty much every individual bauble known to man had been won by one or other of the visiting superstars, but it was Celtic who set the agenda from the get-go.
Postecoglou feels ‘responsibility’ to Celtic fans

They had a chance inside 40 seconds, Liel Abada’s shot being deflected wide. They won two corners inside a minute. They were sharp and relentless and should have gone ahead. That’s what will hurt them. The could’ves and should’ves will have frustrated them massively.

Abada had a second chance after 13 minutes. What a moment. Jota to the Israeli and into a wide open expanse he went. The speed of thought was electrifying and too much for Real.

The Israeli went in on Thibaut Courtois but going one-on-one with Courtois is different gravy than going one-on-one with Jon McLaughlin or any of the other Premiership goalkeepers that Abada has routinely beaten in his season and a bit in Glasgow. He couldn’t execute – and it was costly.

In real time, and with Celtic playing with such verve, you thought another moment might soon follow and it did, but they were denied again. Reo Hatate drilled one at Courtois, who punched clear.

Celtic worked like dervishes to get it back and Callum McGregor lashed a shot off the inside of a post. The goalkeeper was frozen to the spot. Helpless. The woodwork saved him. Celtic Park reverberated to the sound of 60,000 angst-ridden souls.

Their tempo was exhilarating in these minutes. We were getting an insight on what Celtic might be capable of against the greatest sides on the continent, albeit without the succour of that breakthrough goal.

When Karim Benzema went off injured after half an hour, the occasion was robbed of one of the world’s finest players, but his exit looked to be good news for Celtic. More Los Blankos than Los Blancos. When you’re breathing a little sigh of relief that Hazard is coming on instead of Benzema, you’re reminded that life is different now, though.

Celtic kept Real pretty quiet for 45 minutes. Vinicius Junior had a chances that Joe Hart dealt with but beyond that they didn’t throw many shapes. Postecoglou’s side defended well, battled hard and played their football. They stayed true to the manager’s philosophy. No sign of a bus being parked. This was a team having a go.

Early in the new half, Daizen Maeda had a wonderful opportunity, close to goal and in as much space as he would have dared to dream about. He mis-hit it. Painful.

Eight minutes later, Real came out of punching and when they punched, those punches landed. They blew Celtic away in four gorgeous minutes. The stuff of champions. The very reason why they are the best.

There was no real calamity by any Celtic player in any of this, no howler. They were moved slightly out of position and that’s all Real needed. Fine margins. Little lapses of concentration. The game was done at 2-0. The third was mere decoration.

Postecoglou shouldn’t worry a heap about this. He saw enough from his players to suggest more productive nights may lie ahead against Shakhtar and Leipzig.

They were beaten, handsomely in the end, but they’ll have learned a tonne from this. Next stop, Shakhtar. A winnable game against a fellow mortal. Another shot. A night of opportunity.

Celtic praised for ‘putting fear’ into Real Madrid as Spanish press react to ‘Scottish hell’ in Champions League opener

Celtic left an impression on Spanish media with their first-half showing against Real Madrid in the pulsating Champions League group opener on Tuesday night.
By Matthew Elder
Wednesday, 7th September 2022, 12:36 pm
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-praised-for-putting-fear-into-real-madrid-as-spanish-press-react-to-scottish-hell-in-champions-league-opener-3834609

The match may have ended in a convincing 3-0 win to the reigning European champions, courtesy of second-half strikes from Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard, but the story could have been very different had Celtic taken any of the glorious chances that they created before half-time.

Liel Abada twice failed to beat Thibaut Courtois in a one-on-one while Callum McGregor thundered a shot against the inside of the post that somehow stayed out. Even after the break, substitute Daizen Maeda should have put the hosts ahead but fluffed his lines from close range.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo described Celtic Park as the “Scottish hell” as they reported on the home side’s start to the match that had Madrid on the racks.

They wrote: “The Scots, European champions in 1967 with players born in the streets near Celtic Park, shone guided by the feet of the Japanese Hatate, the foresight of the Portuguese Jota and the honor of the Scotsman McGregor, this one from the house. He felt a shot to the Madrid post in the 20th minute and shook the foundations of Glasgow.

“You will never walk alone” (“You will never walk alone”), sang the Celtic field while the footballers jumped onto the pitch. So it was. The Scottish champion, pushed by a colossal crowd, overwhelmed Madrid from the start. Intense in pressure and vertical in the counterattack, he did not let the whites breathe. Ancelotti’s players lived mentally and footballingly caged during the first fifty minutes of the game. Erratic in ball delivery, imprecise in three quarters of the field and dependent only on Vinicius . Always Vinicius, who ended up freeing the white team from the demons.”

El Correo also commented on Madrid’s “notable suffering” in the “green hell of Glasgow”, adding: “Celtic’s brave outing to the field immediately put fear into Real Madrid’s body, whose lukewarm staging was the reverse of the ardor with which the local fans catapulted the Hoops into an initial half hour of extreme suffering for the squad of Ancelotti.”

Madrid newspaper ABC were left impressed by Celtic’s pressing game. “Two and even three went for Vinicius, as if they were going to steal his mobile,” they wrote.

On Celtic’s fast start they added: “With perfect continuity, the great atmosphere in the stands was transferred by Celtic to the pitch. It had a pressing, offensive and brave start that made Madrid tiptoe from the start. It wasn’t just the pressure, Celtic didn’t give a break; I wanted to surprise in the serves, in the breaks, in the fouls, even the referee seemed to be demanding.”

“They push their team, but also respect us, there was no hate,” Toni Kroos praises Celtic support

“They push their team, but also respect us, there was no hate,” Toni Kroos praises Celtic support


By Editor 14 September, 2022 No Comments

Real Madrid superstar Toni Kroos has been speaking about just how special an experience it was playing at Celtic Park last week with the incredible hate-free atmosphere created by the Celtic support giving Real’s vastly expereinced German midfielder one of his best career moments.

Speaking in his Einfach mal Luppen Podcast the 32 year old Real Madrid star, who thought he has expereinced everything in the game, raved about an incredible night at Celtic Park with the noise from the brilliant Celtic support blowing him away.

Glasgow, Scotland, 6th September 2022. Toni Kroos of Real Madrid and Celtic captain Callum McGregor during the UEFA Champions League Group F match at Celtic Park, Photo Neil Hanna / Sportimage

CSC Switzerland provides the Celtic support with translation via a post this morning on Twitter.

“I was being asked several times which (away) stadium is my favourite. And there is a new number 1, I can tell you! Celtic Park. It has been just crazy!

“We came out and the atmosphere was good. But then the Champions League anthem came up and I thought the stadium will crash down. And then they did it again (when the did the huddle).

“When we lined up for the team picture I told David Alaba that it feels like we are already 0-2 down. Just insane!

David Alaba, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric celebrate Real Madrid’s third goal during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Celtic FC and Real Madrid at Celtic Park on September 06, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“The first 20 minutes they pressed incredibly on us and had chances. The fans pushed them even more. The fans kept going till the end, even when we scored the third, they still were pushing the team. And then the made changes near the end and the whole stadium got off their feet.

“The real special thing was, not only did they push their team, but also respect us, there was no hate.

“I am used to a lot over all those years. But this really impressed me heavily. A great experience!”