It was a five-star performance from Celtic against Slovan Bratislava on Matchday one of the Champions League. Whether Celtic were favourites or expected to win doesn’t matter, they did it.
Home wins at Celtic Park have been all too rare in Europe of late, but you get a sense from the way this team goes about their business that this could be a different Champions League campaign. No longer the music at the start and then pumped!
You can only beat what is in front of you and Brendan Rodgers’ side set about their business right from the off. High press, patience, when needed and eventually getting the opening goal from of all things a corner. Celtic used to be dangerous from set pieces under Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon, but maybe that element of their strategy of attack is returning. If you look at the likes of Aston Villa with Austin McPhee, technical coaching on set pieces is now a priority with many clubs, maybe not Tottenham but quite a few others!
Liam Scales header was a sweet moment for the central defender. He’s had to convince a few people, including myself, that he can mix it at this level. He was solid and well deserving of his man of the match.
Celtic’s Liam Scales celebrates scoring to make it 1-0
Celtic were always going to need a second goal to settle the nerves and the ever-improving Kuhn laid it on a plate for Kyogo. I believe taking a penalty is a skill, there’s an art to it and Arne Engels simply brushed in his second in a week without any hint of a nervous stroke. Things just seemed to get better and better for the home side when Maeda added number four. In previous campaigns, he couldn’t hit the target from close range, remember Real Madrid at home? This time a calm side foot and Celtic had restored their three-goal advantage.
Celtic’s Arne Engels celebrates scoring to make it 3-0
The icing on the cake was the sublime weight of pass from James Forrest, now 78 years old and making his 12,000th appearance, to Idah for number five. At this level sometimes only one touch is needed, Idah delivered.
The only downside was the goal conceded with a sloppy clearance and a class finish from Wimmer. One other note of worry has to be those rare moments when Celtic did offer up chances in the game that a better side than Bratislava would surely have taken. Vladimir Weiss should’ve burst the net with his chance. One, two and three touches from the former Rangers player and the chance was gone.
All in all, a good first performance and the three points in the bag. Now the reality check, Borussia Dortmund and Atalanta away from home will give us a real insight into the learning curve for Brendan Rodgers and his team in October. One, two or three points from these two games would amazing, but I fear two defeats on the horizon. However, the one good thing is this feels like a different Celtic team this season and you just never know.
