THERE has been a grudging respect, an almost contemptuous disdain in some cases, for the style of play which Ange Postecoglou has introduced at Celtic in certain quarters in Scottish football in the past year or so.
Fans of the Parkhead club have loved watching the Greek-Australian’s attacking and entertaining football and dubbed it “Angeball” in the early months of last season.
Supporters of their domestic rivals have, it is fair to say, been less impressed. They have repeatedly questioned if it can work against a higher calibre of opposition. Fine against Ross County, but foolish against Real Madrid has been the argument put forward.
Going out of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League – after that heavy and humiliating play-off double header defeat to Norwegian minnows Bodo/Glimt – in the 2022/23 campaign suggested the naysayers may have a point.
Postecolou sounded awfully like his predecessor Brendan Rodgers – whose record in continental competition left much to be desired and who suffered heavy reverses to Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain – when he stubbornly stated that he would not revert to a more defensive gameplan in Europe.
His detractors will doubtless have settled down in their armchairs at eight o’clock last night with an alcoholic beverage in hand hoping, and fully expecting, to see the Scottish champions given a going over by their celebrated Spanish foes.
But what they witnessed was, despite the final result, proof that “Angeball” can work just as well in the Champions League as it does in the Premier Sports Cup.
Real were deserved winners. But the scoreline was harsh on Celtic. They were the better side in the first-half and created numerous scoring opportunities. The outcome at the end of the 90 minutes would have quite different if they had finished as clinically as Vinicius Jnr, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard did after half-time.
Losing at home in their opening Group F match was bitterly disappointing for Celtic and left them with much work to do to reach the knockout rounds for the fourth time in their history. Still, they can take confidence from their showing and should have faith in their system going forward. That they received a standing ovation from the crowd at the final whistle told a story.
Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid manager, has achieved pretty much everything it is possible to accomplish in club football in a coaching career that is now in its 31st year.
Apart, that is, from win at Parkhead. He took his AC Milan side to the venue on three occasions during his eight year spell at the San Siro. They were held to draws twice and beaten once.
The 63-year-old has nothing to prove to anyone in the game. However, he admitted at his pre-match press conference that he was keen to end his hoodoo. Sure enough, he fielded the strongest line-up available to him.
There was just one change to the Real side which defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final in the Stade de France in Paris back in May to claim their 14th title – Aurelien Tchouameni took the place of Casemiro.
If anything, Tchouameni, who was signed from Monaco in his native France back in July for a fee that could rise to €100m in future, has made the visitors even stronger. The defensive midfielder has been in excellent form alongside Toni Kroos and Modric.
However, going on the offensive looked to be a good policy for Celtic in the first minute, after just 27 seconds to be exact, when they created an excellent early scoring chance. Liel Abada was unfortunate to see his shot deflected just wide.
That was by no means an isolated highlight. Far from it. Celtic laid siege to the Real goal. Abada, Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor and Daizen Maeda all benefitted from their quick passing, intelligent movement and patient build-up play and went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock. The noise and sense of excitement around the ground rose as they did so.
Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defenders David Alaba and Eder Militao were not given a second to dwell on the ball. The pressing was relentless. Giorgos Giakoumakis, given the nod to start ahead of Kyogo Furuhashi, worked tirelessly on and off the ball up front.
Postecoglou’s use of inverted full-backs – something which Pep Guardiola is famous for at Manchester City – was ruthlessly exploited by Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League group stages at this time last year. The Germans romped to a 4-0 away win.
But Josip Juranovic, given a torrid evening by Vinicius Jnr, cut inside and burst upfield early in the first-half before supplying Abada ahead of him. The winger struck the side netting when a cut back would have been the better option.
Celtic showed they have steel as well as flair. It was inevitable they were going to come under pressure from a front three that comprised Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jnr and Federico Valverde at some stage and they certainly did.
But McGregor and his team mates responded appropriately and got back in numbers. Giakoumakis headed out of his own penalty box at one stage. Matt O’Riley put in a sliding tackle on Vinicius Jnr. And Moritz Jenz blocked a Modric attempt. Defensively, they were more than a match for their opponents for long spells.
Celtic have great strength in depth in their squad after another busy summer of transfer activity. James Forrest, Furuhashi, Sead Haksabanovic, Maeda, Aaron Mooy and David Turnbull all started on the bench. But Ancelotti showed the remarkable firepower that he has at his disposal after half an hour when he removed his captain Benzema and put on Hazard.
The Belgian playmaker had quite an introduction to proceedings. Jenz flattened him in the middle of the park and was fortunate not to receive a booking for doing so. The German centre half, making just his sixth appearance, had many good moments.
Jenz, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Juranovic and Greg Taylor could not, though, get close to Vinicius Jnr, Mdoric and Hazard in the second-half. But it is in attack where there must be an improvement if Celtic are to progress.
