Celtic’s Oliver Abildgaard will be needed in a big role after Callum McGregor’s injury and Chris Sutton thinks he will need to move the ball quickly.
The Bhoys headed to Germany on Wednesday evening as they took on RB Leipzig in their third Champions League group stage game.
Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring for Leipzig before Jota calmly slotted Celtic level in the second half.
Celtic couldn’t hang on for a point though and Andre Silva struck twice to give Leipzig all three points.
Oliver Abildgaard will be needed in a big role
Celtic have taken just one point from their three Champions League outings this season and have already leaked seven goals.
The big concern for Ange Postecoglou right now is that midfielder Callum McGregor picked up a knee injury against Leipzig.
The Scot is now facing a period on the sidelines and that may mean recent signing Oliver Abildgaard ends up featuring prominently.
Abildgaard came on for McGregor at Leipzig but looked a tad rusty, which is to be expected after little playing time of late.
The Dane had played just one minute for Celtic before being thrust into Champions League action last night, so some patience is needed.
Still, Abildgaard was caught in possession by Nkunku at one stage in the second half and Chris Sutton offered his view on BT Sport.
Sutton stated (7:17pm) that Abildgaard will face the issue of being asked to progress the ball quickly, just like McGregor does at the base of this Celtic midfield.
We didn’t really see that from Abildgaard on Wednesday, as seen in that moment when Nkunku pinched possession off him.
Sutton feels few players can really do what McGregor does but Abildgaard must now try and replace him, with some match sharpness clearly needed.
“The issue that Abildgaard has in that position is that he needs to make sure he gets on the ball,” said Sutton. “That’s the job Callum McGregor does, that quickness of passing.”
“I don’t think anybody can quite do it like McGregor, but that’s his job in that role,” he added.
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