Celtic are earning rave reviews for how they approached Wednesday night’s match against Atletico Madrid, with TNT Sports pundit James Horncastle stating that the Bhoys are playing some of the best football in the tournament.
As a pot four side, Brendan Rodgers’ team are underdogs at this level. But that hasn’t stopped them from going toe-to-toe with Feyenoord, Lazio and Atletico Madrid in the opening three matches.
Celtic have played some brilliant football at times. While soft goals have been conceded and ultimately only one point has been earned, it has been thrilling to see the Scottish champions occasionally tear open elite defences.
Last night was no exception. The opening goal in the 2-2 draw against Atletico was particularly impressive and after the match on TNT Sports, Horncastle delivered a glowing verdict.
O’Riley and Kyogo impress for Celtic against Atletico
He said: “They had to get something out of this game. I think they’ve played some of the best football I’ve seen in the competition so far this season. You go back to the goal that Matt O’Riley and Kyogo Furuhashi scored for the opener against Lazio but this one was even better than that.
“That was just magnificent in terms of the understanding and telepathy between between O’Riley and Furuhashi. It’s two one-twos that led up to that and there’s very little you can do when you play at that pace if you are the opposing team. There aren’t many teams that can play that kind of one-touch, interchange football that Celtic can. Some of it is the muscle memory that they’ve got from playing under Ange Postecoglou and obviously, some of it is Brendan as well.
“The penalty conceded was the disappointing moment and moments like that have let Celtic down. If you go back to the Feyenoord game where they gave away a penalty – Joe Hart saved that but they had two sent off – and they gave away a penalty here as well and Griezmann got a bit of luck. Celtic don’t. And that’s been a bit of the story for Celtic because their performances deserve more than the point they’ve got.”
It’s pleasing to hear Celtic receive plaudits like this from high-profile UK broadcasters. Scottish football is often maligned by outsiders and sometimes even by pundits and writers in this country. But Horncastle is spot on here.
The goals that the Bhoys have scored against Lazio and Atletico are some of the best we’ve seen at Celtic Park at this level for a long, long time. It’s proper incisive, attacking football. It should give us confidence heading into the second half of the group stage, and beyond into next season.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers explains Celtic formation change against Atletico Madrid.
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