Celtic team vs Atletico confirmed, 4 changes, global broadcast details, instant reaction

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Manager Brendan Rodgers has named his Celtic team vs Atletico for tonight’s big UEFA Champions League Group E match in Madrid.

The full match squad is as follows:

Starting XI – Hart, Johnston, Scales, Carter-Vickers, Taylor, McGregor, Bernardo, O’Riley, Maeda, Kyogo, Palma.

Substitutes – Bain, Lagerbielke, Phillips, Yang, Turnbull, Holm, Oh, Iwata, Forrest, Ralston, Welsh, Johnston.

Celtic need to avoid defeat tonight to keep their chances of European football after Christmas viable. It’s a tall order on Atletico’s turf but the team did perform well against them at Celtic Park last month.

Brendan Rodgers has made four changes from the weekend’s win over Ross County with Kyogo Furuhashi, Alistair Johnston, Matt O’Riley and Luis Palma coming into the line-up.

However, there is only one change compared to the team that faced Atletico in October with Paulo Bernardo replacing the injured Reo Hatate.

Broadcast details

Tonight’s match is live on the subscription channel TNT Sports 1 in the UK & Ireland.

Live audio commentary will also be available via Celtic TV and BBC radio.

Dozens of channels around the world will be carrying the match live including CBS Sports Network in the USA, Movistar in Spain and Stan Sport in Australia. A full list of global channels can be found via LiveSoccerTV.

Instant verdict on Celtic team vs Atletico

The team looks about as strong as is available to Rodgers at the moment. The only real big call that had to be made was in midfield where the Celtic boss has opted for Bernardo instead of David Turnbull.

Turnbull has been in excellent goalscoring form of late but you can understand why the manager has excluded him this evening. The defensive side of his game isn’t a strong point and the Bhoys will need that shift from his Portuguese alternative.

Elsewhere, it’s as you would expect. There is a definite attacking threat in the team, but can the eleven find the balance needed to frustrate Atletico at the other end? An exciting 90 minutes awaits us.