The great thing about watching Celtic is that you are guaranteed to watch a game that is full of attacking intent and goals.
But against Atletico Madrid, it was always going to be a tough ask with a full-strength squad. But when you are down to ten men, trying to play that type of football can be almost impossible.
And that is why Aiden McGeady was left so surprised last night. After Daizen Maeda’s red card, Celtic were 2-0 down and on the ropes and the former Celtic winger couldn’t believe that Brendan Rodgers was still trying to attack the La Liga giants.
McGeady said [BBC], “It was very difficult to watch.
“I thought when Atletico Madrid were in the ascendency I was surprised by the formation and the substitutions.
“In the last half an hour or so it looked like Celtic were still trying to attack and Atletico were able to capitalise on the space that created.”
Celtic still have Champions League lessons to learn
McGeady was right, that was a tough watch. And not just after the red card. After starting brightly, Celtic went down to a sixth-minute Antoine Griezmann goal after a series of calamitous defensive errors.
Joe Hart‘s refusal to catch a ball that was offered to him on a plate led to a dodgy punching clearance that only made it out to Callum McGregor in the penalty box.
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The Celtic captain’s headed clearance was poorly placed and it set up Griezmann to fire in a shot that was eventually deflected into the back of Hart’s net.
That started a night of misery. Maeda’s red card just compounded it. A 6-0 loss at any level is never good. Celtic need to learn and learn fast that at this level, you simply cannot go gung-ho every minute of every game.
Because as they found out last night, and two weeks ago, tired legs cause mistakes and mistakes are always punished in the Champions League.
In other news, ‘If I was a referee’s assessor’…Stuart Pearce delivers his verdict on Daizen Maeda’s Celtic red card