Some Celtic fans have been encouraged by Nir Bitton’s defensive performance tonight despite the team suffering a defeat away to Lyon.
Moussa Dembele and Memphis Depay were the home players who found their way to goal in a 2-1 victory.
Neil Lennon had chosen to field an experimental second-string side for the first hour, making a massive ten changes from Thursday evening’s starting line-up.
With youngsters like Karamoko Dembele and Scott Robertson getting an opportunity against a strong Lyon outfit, it was always going to be a tough ask to pick up a result.
They are a last 16 Champions League side after all.
In the closing stages of the match, substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi produced a bit of magic to grab a consolation.
The performance from the Bhoys was nothing to write home about when judging as a collective.
However, Bitton was a composed presence in the heart of the Celtic defence up against a quality French attack.
The Israeli international joined the club during Lennon’s first spell as Hoops boss.
Signed as a midfielder, he has gradually become the versatile go-to choice at centre-half behind first-choice talents Christopher Jullien and Kristoffer Ajer.
His display tonight may have only been in a friendly, and only for 60 minutes, but it bodes well for competitive matches next month.
That’s especially true if Lennon is eyeing up a return to his three-man defence formation.
We may still need to bring in another experienced defender to compete but in Bitton, we have a long-serving player who can do a job, especially in domestic action.
These fans were encouraged by his display tonight, taking to Twitter to share their thoughts on the 28-year-old…
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