In their draw with this season’s champion football team, Celtic displayed the “best football” of the league.
Spanish powerhouse Atletico Madrid denied Celtic a first-ever victory in the competition, but their performance gives them hope that they can contend in the latter half of the group stages. With three games left, the Scottish Premiership leaders are still bottom of Group E, despite goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Luis Palma earning them their first point of the season.In a thrilling 2-2 draw at Parkhead against Atletico Madrid, Celtic earned their first Champions League point of the current campaign.
The Scottish Premiership winners have garnered a lot of acclaim for their performance, which manager Brendan Rodgers said should encourage players to think that they have a genuine chance of making it out of the group stages.
They are still at the bottom of Group E, though, three points below Lazio in third, four behind Atletico in second, and five behind leaders Feyenoord at the halfway point.
They will need to deliver some significant outcomes in their last three games, but based on their performance thus far, they appear to have the players in their roster who can pull it off.
TNT Sports pundit James Horncastle commented, “They had to get something out of this game, and I think they’ve played some of the best football that I’ve seen in the competition so far this season,” in response to the draw with Atletico.Few teams possess the one-touch, interchangeable style of game like Celtic does.”Obviously, some of it is Brendan [Rodgers] as well, but I think some of it is the muscle memory they got from playing under [Ange] Postecoglou,” he remarked.
With a goal in the first four minutes of the game, Kyogo Furuhashi gave Celtic the ideal start.
Horncastle was thrilled with the way Celtic broke through the Atletico defense early on and how one particular pair was so effective.
“This goal tonight was even better than the one that Matthew O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi scored for the opening against Lazio,” the player said.That was really amazing in terms of comprehension, Matt O’Riley and Furuhashi’s telepathy. That was preceded by two one-twos. If you’re on the other side, there’s not much you can do at that speed, he added.
Their excellent work was, however, undone when Greg Taylor’s placement left him in the wrong side of Nahuel Molina, whom he caught with an awkward challenge, allowing Atletico to win a penalty.
Antoine Griezmann’s attempt was stopped by Celtic goalkeeper Joe Hart, who said that Atletico employed “all the tricks” to avoid losing, but the French forward scored on the rebound.
Horncastle stated that after controlling the first half of the game, Celtic ought to be quite angry at themselves for allowing their rivals to re-enter the contest.
“This was the moment of disappointment. These kinds of situations are what have let Celtic down.
