Celtic were hammered 7-0 by Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Barcelona’s Jordi Alba in action with Celtic’s Cristian Gamboa
New Celtic signing Cristian Gamboa has told The Scottish Sun that it was ‘difficult’ making his debut for the club against Barcelona.
After being on such a high having beaten Rangers 5-1 last weekend, Celtic travelled to Catalunya to take on Barcelona in their opening game of the Champions League group stage – and it turned out to be a dismal evening for the Bhoys.
Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho (L) in action with Cristian Gamboa
Lionel Messi’s early goal had put Celtic 1-0 down, and after Moussa Dembele squandered the chance to equalise from the penalty spot, Barcelona simply ran riot at the Camp Nou.
Messi’s second handed Barcelona a 2-0 lead by half-time, before Neymar and Andres Iniesta made it 4-0, before Luis Suarez added two late goals following Messi’s hat-trick goal, meaning Celtic left Spain with a thumping 7-0 defeat.
Cristian Gamboa (R) in action with Stoke’s Mame Diouf
Celtic struggled to make an impact – as many teams do away at Barcelona – and must now pick themselves up for this weekend’s game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with new signing Cristian Gamboa keen to get back on track quickly.
Gamboa, 26, joined Celtic just a day before the transfer deadline having failed to make an impact with West Brom, and after being left out against Rangers, the Costa Rican international was thrown into the starting line-up against Barcelona.
Starting as a right wing back in a 5-4-1 system, Gamboa couldn’t stop Barcelona from scoring seven goals, and he has offered his view on the game.
Costa Rica’a Cristian Gamboa (L) and England’s Ross Barkley in action
Speaking to The Scottish Sun, Gamboa stated that he felt it was a difficult game to make his debut in, and whilst he tried his best for Celtic, it was hard to make a real impression against one of the world’s best teams.
“It was a difficult game in which to make my debut, especially after we concede after a couple of minutes,” said Gamboa. “Soon, it was all over. We can do nothing about it now other than look at all the mistakes we made and try to get back on track. We want to do that as fast as we can. I tried to play well here but sometimes it is difficult. That is football,” he added.
What did you think of Gamboa’s performance against Barcelona?
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