Champions League 2023/24 Round of 32

Celtic were excellent in the first half. A joy to behold.
They just about earned the draw by the full time whistle

Rip-roaring first half but Atletico stepped it up after half time & a draw was a fair result. Celtic have played some brilliant stuff in these two home games but only have a point to show for it. The players are growing into this level for sure, looks like we’ll need to win away to Lazio & home to Feyenoord in rounds 5 & 6 to secure European football into the new year. Another accomplished display by Liam Scales there.

Thought the change in formation worked for a while but we surrendered the initiative again afterwards. Phillips was poor on the ball and was surprised we didn’t go for fresh legs in midfield in particular. Also thought Oh was a certainty to come on for Kyogo.

Hard to be disappointed though after what was a very good performance overall. Superb first half and rallied well in the second half to make sure the game didn’t slip away from us.

Performance wise I think CCV still looks a bit rusty after his injury and Johnston hasn’t quite been assured enough at this level yet. Taylor as usual was a bit mixed but we defended well overall. Hart had a good game and Scales was very good.

Midfield were really good but tired. Was a big ask for Bernardo. He didn’t do much outstanding but was decent overall. Was a bit unlucky for their goal.

Palma and Maeda were effective especially Maeda obviously who was terrific. Thought Kyogo stayed on a little too long - had some sloppy moments when he ran out of legs.

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Who’s the host on Virgin Media?

Nobody to replace him

Im very invested in scales doing well and he isnt out of place, very good on the ball

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I thought that was his best performance yet tonight for Celtic.

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Richard Dunne reckons it took Man City 5 or 6 attempts to get out of the Champions League group stage. They got out on the 3rd attempt Richard.

That Zaire emery looks an insane prospect for France

Taylor found out a bit at this level again, if I’m being harsh. Gave away the penalty, albeit soft enough, & I thought he could have won the ball before the cross when Bernardo slid in & nudged the ball in his direction but Taylor decided to stand off. He was generally quite unsure of himself positionally & mixed in possession but couldn’t fault his effort. As a rule of thumb, Celtic should really only have jockos starting for them if they’re stand out players whereas Taylor is 3rd or 4th choice left wing back for Scotland.

Rodgers’ use of his bench tonight hinted that he doesn’t trust some players at this level (yet?). I thought Iwata’s energy & his defensive instincts might have helped us regain control in midfield & both Kyogo & Maeda had run themselves into the ground but he belatedly brought on Forrest rather than Oh. Hatate’s injury is a pity, as he was just starting to get back to his usual standard. We’ll probably get to see more of Bernardo for a few weeks.

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What’s your early impression of him ?

For a minute I thought the rat was going to apologise for Tallaght but another disappointing end to a Celtic game.

Dunney looks like he’s had a jar or two

CCV and Scales are a serious partnership at the back

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Looks technically sound but ran out of steam. Think he’s type of player Rodgers likes & will improve. Gait and running style reminds me of Robert Pires.

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Maeda is one of the best buys we ever got.

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That’s really naive by Newcastle

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Just after realising that the Newcastle game is on. 2-0 down in Dortmund and in major trouble in that group now. There’s a decent chance that two of the EPL clubs are knocked out in the group stages this season.

Newcastle will win the europa league