Jamie Carragher labelled Celtic a ‘special’ team, place and atmosphere despite Ange Postecoglou’s side suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid in their Champions League opener on Tuesday night.
The former Liverpool defender is hoping Celtic can remain in the Champions League ‘as long as possible’ and he feels the first-half of yesterday’s encounter was ’50-50′, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (06/09/22 at 10:20 pm).
Right from the first whistle, Celtic were in the faces of the current European Cup holders and putting Carlo Ancelotti’s side under serious pressure.
It could be argued that, for large parts of that first half, it was Celtic setting the tempo, being aggressive and just lacking that composure in the final third.
But there is a reason why Madrid are the champions of Spain and England because they turned it up in the second half, controlled the game and showcased their class.
Carragher hailed Celtic as a club, its fans and that ‘special’ feeling at Parkhead on nights like these, as he praised them for yesterday’s effort.
“Certainly in the first half, I think they would say that it was a 50-50 game, that’s what it felt like,” said Carragher. “If there is one place I could have been tonight, in terms of being at a stadium, it would have been there Celtic Park.
“That’s the place, in terms of atmosphere. I have played there, the atmosphere is outstanding. So, you want them to stay in the Champions League as long as possible.
“But for Celtic, it’s about could they get through the group and have more amazing nights? They aren’t going to trouble anyone, in terms of going to the latter stages or winning the competition.
“It’s a special place, team and atmosphere, that you want to see stay in the Champions League as long as you possibly can, not just for their own sake, but for everybody. Nobody can say that they don’t enjoy going into that stadium. or watching them when it’s in full voice.”
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The Bhoys have every chance of getting out of the group stages, but they need to set this type of tempo, especially at home against their other two opponents.
Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig are the other two in the group, the Ukrainian side thrashed the German team 4-1 away from home yesterday to top the group.
Next week, Celtic will take on Shakhtar, and if they make an aggressive start, as they did against Madrid, then there is no reason why they can’t hurt their group rivals.
But that is now a very big game already given that Shakhtar have opened their European account for the season with three very big points.
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