Gary Mackay-Steven has opened up on the time he was alone in the San Siro away dressing room with Virgil Van Dijk.
The Dutchman had just been sent off in the first-half of the Hoops’ 1-0 Europa League defeat to Inter Milan in 2015.
Van Dijk’s two yellow cards forced Hoops boss Ronny Deila into a tactical change and it was Mackay-Steven who made way as the Norwegian patched things back up at the back.
And now the New York City winger has opened up on the frustration he felt once alone with Van Dijk in the changing room, and the apology he never got.
“After half-time, I went for a shower before I went back out,” the winger told Si Ferry on Open Goal.
“It was just Virgil and me and I remember throwing my boots down wanting him to say sorry.
“But he was just, cool as you like, chilled out. I didn’t want to be the first to say, I just wanted him to be like: ‘Listen mate, sorry about that’ but he didn’t say a word.
“I got nothing off him at all.”
It would have been awkward between Mackay-Steven and Van Dijk
As always, the Open Goal interviews shine a light on a part of football that us punters don’t even consider.
While all the attention was on what Celtic’s ten men could do in the San Siro, nobody would’ve been thinking about the awkward exchange going on between Van Dijk and Mackay-Steven deep in the bowels of the stadium.
Had it been at St. Mirren Park or Almondvale, you could’ve forgiven Van Dijk.
But the fact the incident happened at San Siro, a ground that GMS had always wanted to play in (according to his interview), it really did take things up a notch.
The overall interview between Ferry and Mackay-Steven is well worth a watch for any Celtic supporters.
The winger seems a genuinely sound guy who loved his time playing for Celtic.
If you’ve got a spare hour to kill ahead of the game tonight, you should definitely give it a watch.
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