Celtic should be jealous of the star-power of Manchester City in Japan, according to some English media.
Brendan Rodgers’ first-team have now returned back to Scotland after what must be considered a successful tour of Japan.
The team sampled Tokyo (briefly), Yokohama and Osaka and won a match too, all while raising the profile of the club and earning valuable pre-season game-time.
Japanese fans flocked to see some of their country’s heroes, and an under-cooked Celtic had no issues playing against the finest the J1 League has to offer.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City also happened to be in the country at around the same time. They came from behind to beat Yokohama F. Marinos on Sunday, and face Bayern Munich this Wednesday.
Given that City had messers Grealish, Haaland, Kovacic, Rodri, Silva and more all involved it’s perhaps no surprise that they got a mega crowd for the Marinos clash in Tokyo.
As per the Manchester Evening News, 61,618 supporters packed in to the National Stadium. That beats the record attendance ever managed for an actual Japanese top-flight match.
Strangely enough, the outlet then went on to compare the crowd to the 20,263 that watched our game with Marinos a few days earlier in Yokohama.
The MEN article read: “‘Might as well be Celtic’ was the infamous viral cry of United fans in years gone by. They will look on with an element of green (and white hooped) envy at the Man City mania on display.” The headline also referenced the apparent need for Celtic to be jealous of City’s international attractiveness.
The reality is that you won’t find a single Celtic fan jealous of Manchester City. Sure, they have a world-class manager and some of the finest talent on the planet. But it all feels a little flat.
As City struggle to sell-out major Champions League knockout clashes (Daily Mail) we can rest easy in the knowledge that Celtic Park will be sold-out for virtually every game this season.
They garner huge crowds in Japan because they have bought the players to do so. We manage it simply because of our glorious history, which has not come around as a result of money.
With all of that considered, it’s a strange old take to suggest that Celtic should be envious of City in any way.
In other news, James Forrest is relishing the opportunity to work with Brendan Rodgers again
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