RB Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg fulfilled a lifelong dream on Tuesday night when he emulated his boyhood hero Henrik Larsson and scored at Parkhead.
The Swedish internationalist came off the bench in the second-half of the Champions League match against Celtic in the East End of Glasgow and netted the visitors’ second goal.
It was an emotional moment for the man who grew up in his homeland idolising his countryman Larsson.
“I bet he’s scored some beauties in this stadium, yes?” said Forsberg as he looked back on the 2-0 triumph yesterday. “It was a nice one for me and I was very happy. It came from some very good play from us.”
The Scandinavian was impressed with the Scottish champions’ all-round showing during the Group F encounter too and thinks that a Larssonesque finish was all that was missing from their performance.
Ange Postecoglou’s created a raft of scoring chances during the 90 minutes and hit the woodwork twice – but they were unable to beat goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.
Netting against top continental opposition was never an issue for all-time Celtic great Larsson – he is the Glasgow club’s all-time record European scorer with 35 goals.
But Forsberg, a veteran of numerous European campaigns with Malmo and Leipzig, believes Cameron Carter-Vickers and his team mates will learn from their Champions League outings and improve their finishing in the final third in their remaining games against Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Madrid.
“It wasn’t easy for us,” he said. “I think Celtic are a fantastic team. They play good football, they play fast and they have a lot of good combinations.
“They had some good chances to score, but they didn’t and in the end we got two good chances and we scored. But for the fans it was a great game.”
Forserg added: “They are a fantastic team and they play well, making good chances. In these kinds of games it’s important they score when they get those chances against good teams.
“I think Celtic are a really good team. They have some fantastic players in the midfield and at the back. I think they play some really good one-two combinations. That impressed me a lot.
“Also the way they did that in the last third. But against us they didn’t have the ability to score. Like I said, they need that finishing touch a little bit more. But I am sure it will come.”
Forsberg had been told about what Parkhead is like on big European nights by his former Sweden team mate Mikael Lustig and loved playing in front of the 57,565-strong crowd.
“It was amazing,” he said. “We said it before the game that it would be so and it was. I’m a good friend with Mikael Lustig and he told me a lot about it. So, it was a pleasure to come here and play before such amazing fans.”
