Vasilis Barkas had a Celtic Park return to forget on Thursday.
The Greek goalkeeper was a central signing ahead of Celtic’s 2020-21 season, replacing Fraser Forster as the Hoops vied for ten in a row under Neil Lennon.
Signed for a fee starting at £4.5 million from AEK Athens, Barkas had a disastrous season. Both Scott Bain and Conor Hazard displaced him, and he served as back-up the following season.
He may have rediscovered form at Utrecht, but on his return to Celtic Park, a woeful error in the early stages resulted in the crowd ironically cheering him for the rest of the game.
And to make matters worse, Lennon himself was co-commentating on the game.
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Neil Lennon on Vasillis Barkas at Celtic vs Utrecht
Barkas wasn’t the only ill-fated signing overseen by Lennon that season.
Shane Duffy, Albian Ajeti and Jonjoe Kenny are all names that Hoops fans won’t appreciate being reminded of.
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But he would’ve had flashbacks when Barkas’ under-hit pass was intercepted by Benjamin Nygren, leading to an own-goal by Nick Viergever.
After the goal, commentator Rory Hamilton said: “Vasilis Barkas’ demons are back at Celtic Park…”
Lennon replied: “Yeah, I’m starting to twitch here.”
Reflecting on the goal itself, Lennon said: “It’s a huge error from Barkas, and it’s really well-read by Nygren. It’s an own-goal.
“But it all comes from the goalkeeper, who had a really difficult time. I signed him myself, it was really difficult during the Covid period.
“He seemed to have resurrected his career here at Utrecht, but that’s a huge error that was made there.”
Barkas has indeed resurrected his career in the Eredivisie, generating interest from Sevilla in recent transfer windows.
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Celtic’s 4-2 win against Utrecht
It was an odd night at Celtic Park, but it couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
The hosts suffocated Utrecht, with the own-goal sandwiched between strikes by Nygren and Arne Engels, putting the Celts 3-0 up within 20 minutes.
The pace of the game naturally slowed down, but this allowed Utrecht to find their feet. Goals on either side of the break from Dani de Wit and Arian Blake threatened an incredible comeback.
But when Auston Trusty re-established Celtic’s two-goal cushion, their place in the next round of the Europa League was secured.
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