da luck： Celtic suffered the worst case scenario in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League action. Every Hoops supporter, even the most optimistic, recognised it was a desperately difficult task to overcome the quality of Paris Saint-Germain and get a positive result. However, they still had hope their team could avoid a heavy defeat and at least compete with the cash-rich French giants. That wasn’t to be.
da aviator aposta： Unai Emery’s side were superb throughout the 5-0 win, showing that the hype surrounding them this season is very much justified. It wasn’t just the front three of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Edinson Cavani that shone – players like Marco Verratti and Dani Alves showed that they have quality all over the park.
For Brendan Rodgers and Celtic it’s another harsh lesson that this level of competition is as far beyond their current status as ever before. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to compete due to the financial gap they have between themselves and the top 16 clubs on the continent.
Beyond that though, what can they take away from Tuesday night’s game?
Here are TWO positives and TWO negatives…
Negative: Failure to execute Rodgers’ game plan
One of the things Brendan Rodgers talked about prior to the visit of Paris Saint-Germain was his desire for his team to ‘play without fear’ on the night and take the game to the superstar opposition. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Within the first 15 minutes of the match, the Hoops looked terrified up against Unai Emery’s side.
From long balls forward and clearing their lines without much thought or desire to take responsibility, to running into dead ends when there were simple passes available, Celtic let themselves down.
Of course, even if Celtic had put in a stellar performance they’d have likely still been beaten by the French, but they didn’t let their visitors know they were in a game whatsoever. The Hoops can only be responsible for their own performance and it wasn’t good enough.
The big regret will be that Celtic didn’t play as well as they know they can in the first half and PSG were ruthless in response, rushing to a three-goal lead and putting the game to bed by the break.
That failure to execute what Rodgers was looking for is the big negative for supporters.
Positive: They’re playing for third and Anderlecht were thrashed too
When you’re thrashed 5-0 at home in any competition, it’s hard to take any positives at all from the night, but one of the main positives Celtic can take from Matchday 1 happened elsewhere in Group B.
Most Celtic fans realise that they’re actually competing with Anderlecht this season in Europe, vying for that third place spot in the group that will see them qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.
Pleasing then that the Belgians were also thrashed on Tuesday, beaten 3-0 by Bayern Munich in Germany. It may not be quite as damaging as what happened to the Hoops, but it is a reminder that Anderlecht are unlikely to take much from the Germans or PSG either.
The matches against Anderlecht will be something of a two-legged affair and whoever comes out on top will most likely finish in that third spot which guarantees European football after Christmas. Against the other two sides it could be a case of damage limitation.
Negative: No progress from this time last season
This time last year Celtic were also left licking their wounds on the opening night of the UEFA Champions League after a 7-0 thrashing from Barcelona at the Nou Camp. It was the worst European defeat in the history of the club. 12 months later and PSG have just inflicted Celtic’s worst ever European home defeat in the history of the club.
In many ways Tuesday night’s game was reminiscent of that night in Barcelona. Far too much respect was shown to the opposition, Celtic looked starstruck and there was a distinct lack of aggression from the Scottish side in the match.
Supporters had hoped the Hoops didn’t need to keep learning these lessons, that progress would be shown from last season’s competition, but the same old mentality crept into the team once again.
There was big improvement from that 7-0 defeat; in the next match the Hoops competed with the best team in England at that point, Manchester City, in a 3-3 draw.
Can Brendan Rodgers’ team rebound in a similar manner?
Positive: Second half fight must be the blueprint
While the game was over at 3-0 going into half-time, Celtic did show some of the fight and the desire necessary in the second half. Players showed bravery to step out of position to pursue midfielders, Scott Sinclair had more of an edge to him and the likes of Anthony Ralston and Kieran Tierney showed the fight and aggression the Hoops need at this level.
That defiant spirit is perhaps easier to muster when the game is already over, but it should be the blueprint for the Hoops’ remaining matches in Group B.
Celtic fans can accept their side being outclassed by elite opponents, but when they are outclassed and show a lack of fight, that’s when they have a problem.
Two late goals were conceded when the heads dropped in the Celtic side again, showing that they need to sustain attitude and application across an entire 90 minutes. If they can play like they did for parts of the second half for the rest of their European fixtures, they have a very good chance of finishing third.