It’s the end of Celtic’s European campaign … and also of this MBM. Thanks for reading. Nighty night!
Ange Postecoglu speaks to BT Sport. “Real Madrid are a fantastic football team. They have some real quality. We didn’t start the game too badly and hung in there. We got our penalty which would have put them under a little bit of pressure, but that’s been the story of our campaign. Ultimately they were too good for us, they’re a good side. I’m really proud of our players, we never stopped trying to play. Thibaut Courtois was outstanding. It’s key for us that we’re here every year. Our players are growing in every game. I’ve got no doubt they’ll be better footballers. We’ll learn from it. If we perform like that, we’ll be hard to stop in the league. I wanted our supporters to get more joy, but I’m not disheartened, we’re on the right track.”
Joe Hart has a word with BT. “It’s never nice to concede two soft penalties early on. The first half was even other than that. Courtois had a good game. We put our best foot forward and tried to attack. They’re ruthless. I’ve not had much to do other than fish the ball out of the net five times. We want to be back here, and turn the maybes into going our way. We are going to spend every single day trying to get back here again.”
The other game in Group F has ended Shakhtar Donetsk 0-4 Leipzig. It all means Real Madrid go through as group winners, Leipzig also qualify for the last 16, and Shakhtar go into the knockout round play-offs in the Europa League. Celtic will always have Lisbon.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | -2 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | -11 | 2 |
FULL TIME: Real Madrid 5-1 Celtic
… but Stéphanie Frappart only allows three seconds of it before blowing up for full time. Real Madrid have thumped Celtic, but Jota has given the Scottish champions a little something special to remember.
90 min: There will be one extra minute …
89 min: Benzema sees a shot from a tight angle on the left blocked on the line by Starfelt. Then from the resulting corner, Benzema balloons over the bar. There have been six goals tonight. There could so easily have been 16.
88 min: Jota is in the mood now. He tears down the left wing and cuts infield. A couple of stepovers, then a shot towards the bottom left. He gives it a fierce whack, but Courtois isn’t going to be beaten this time.
86 min: Jota celebrated that goal with a huge smile, despite the scoreline. That was a special free kick, at the end of a very decent dribble down the channel. A personal contribution fit for a stage like the Bernabéu.
Updated
GOAL! Real Madrid 5-1 Celtic (Jota 84)
Yes sir! Jota whips the free kick up and over the wall, and into the top-left corner! Courtois gets a fingertip to the ball, but can’t stop it flying into the net. That’s a fantastic hit, and Celtic deserve to get on the scoresheet.
Updated
83 min: Jota looks lively. Racing down the inside-left channel, he tries to squeeze in between Kroos and Vazquez, and is upended by the latter. Free kick, just to the left of the D. Jota looks like he’ll be taking it himself. A consolation coming up?
82 min: Abildgaard replaces Hatate.
80 min: Jota threads a weak shot towards the bottom left. Courtois smothers without fuss. Celtic may be on the end of a thumping, but they’ve had their chances all right.
78 min: Corner for Celtic. Jota swings it in. Courtois punches it clear, and suddenly six Real players are streaming upfield on the counter. Celtic are fortunate that Asensio isn’t able to pick the killer pass.
76 min: A corner on the left leads to a corner on the right. Celtic clear the second one, and they’re another minute closer to getting out of dodge without any further embarrassment.
75 min: Benzema tries to tee up Rodrygo with a low cross from the left. O’Riley does extremely well to deflect out for a corner.
74 min: Benzema finds himself underneath a dropping ball on the Celtic penalty spot, his back to goal. He spins and attempts a Zidanesque volley, but doesn’t connect. An uncharacteristic air swipe. For a second there, number six looked very much on the cards.
73 min: Militao makes way for Vallejo.
72 min: O’Riley has a belt from distance. Well wide right. Meanwhile as Valverde was whistling the ball into the Celtic net, Dani Olmo was making it 4-0 for Leipzig against Shakhtar.
GOAL! Real Madrid 5-0 Celtic (Valverde 71)
Or maybe not. Vazquez dribbles down the right and cuts back for Valverde, who opens his body and powerfully sidefoots into the bottom left. Hart had no chance.
Updated
70 min: All a bit scrappy now. If both teams could declare, they surely would.
68 min: It’s now 3-0 for Leipzig against Shakhtar. Dominik Szoboszlai wrapping up the points with a nice pretty bow.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | -1 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | -11 | 2 |
66 min: Real make two more changes. Off go Modric and Alaba, on come Ceballos and Nacho.
65 min: This is getting very open now. Giakoumakis shoots straight at Courtois. Up the other end, Hart is forced to race out of his box to hack clear to deny Asensio. Not sure very open will be good for Celtic.
63 min: Meanwhile Real make a double change: Carvajal makes way for Lucas Vazquez, while Vinicius is replaced by … Karim Benzema. Have Celtic not suffered enough?
Updated
62 min: Before the game restarts, Celtic make a quadruple change. Giakoumakis, Hakšabanović, Turnbull and Jota come on for Kyogo, Abada, Mooy and Maeda.
GOAL! Real Madrid 4-0 Celtic (Vinicius 61)
Valverde is sent scampering into the Celtic box down the right. He whips infield, low and hard. Vinicius arrives, six yards out, and flicks into the bottom left. A doddle.
Updated
61 min: Kroos looks to curl one into the top right. Well wide. Real are relentless, though.
60 min: Vinicius drives in from the left and looks for Rodrygo in the middle. His dinked cross is flicked out for a corner by Starfelt. Had the defender not intervened, that was surely number four. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
58 min: Asensio one-twos with Valverde down the inside right. His shot clanks off Jenz. Real want more.
57 min: Mooy takes a heavy touch on the edge of the Real box, shipping possession then running slap-bang into Militao. There’s a half-arsed shout for a penalty, but come on and come off it.
56 min: Carvajal curls into the Celtic area from the right. Vinicius buzzes towards the ball at the near post, but Starfelt ushers him away from a shooting position.
54 min: Abada fires a low cross through the Real box from the right. Kyogo can’t meet it at the near stick, Maeda doesn’t gamble behind him. Carvajal turns out for a corner that leads to nowt.
53 min: On the touchline, Ange Postecoglu wears a look of great concern. Meanwhile in Warsaw, André Silva makes it 2-0 for Leipzig against Shakhtar Donetsk. Group F is all over bar the shouting.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 6 | 8 | 13 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | -10 | 2 |
GOAL! Real Madrid 3-0 Celtic (Asensio 51)
Valverde slips a pass down the inside-right channel for Carvajal, who hooks back from the byline. Asensio, rushing into the box, whistles a low drive into the bottom left. Such a crisp strike!
Updated
49 min: Maeda barges Militao to the floor. Just a free kick, and maybe a little payback for getting Maeda’s buddy into trouble.
47 min: Kyogo is booked for brushing Militao lightly on the nose as the pair battle for possession. That seems a bit of an over-reaction for what is little more than a garden-variety foul.
Celtic get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Real Madrid 2-0 Celtic
A tale of three penalties and a plethora of missed chances. That fairly flew by.
Updated
45 min: Asensio finds Valverde in the Celtic box on the right. Valverde has options in the middle, but can only force a corner. He batters the ball away in frustration. Rodrygo then heads the corner wide left.
44 min: Real ping it around the middle of the park, reasserting their control.
42 min: Taylor goes in hard on Kroos. It looks like a fair challenge – he gets the ball – but a free kick is awarded. Given he’s already been booked, hearts were in mouths for a minute there.
41 min: Taylor and Hatate combine cutely down the left. Taylor makes it into the Real box but can’t beat the first man with his cross. Just a corner that comes to nothing.
39 min: Vinicius tries to burst through the Celtic backline by flicking the ball over his own head. Full marks for ambition and style, though it doesn’t quite come off. The crowd enjoyed that nonetheless.
37 min: Vinicius dribbles towards the Celtic goal from the left. Hart closes him down and begins to chase him away, only for Vinicius to turn and attempt to curl around the keeper from a tight angle. The ball rebounds back onto the striker and out for a goal kick. In a parallel universe somewhere, the scoreline is 7-4.
Courtois saves the penalty
35 min: Juranović aims for the top left … but doesn’t really catch it. A nice height for Courtois to turn the ball away from goal. Celtic pass up a huge opportunity to get back into the match!
Updated
Penalty for Celtic
34 min: Abada turns on the jets and nearly gets past Mendy down the right. Nearly, but not quite, because Mendy lunges clumsily and brings the in-flight Celtic man down! Stéphanie Frappart points straight to the spot, no need for VAR this time!
32 min: Asensio glides in from the right and looks for the top left. Hart is behind it all the way. This is not going to end 2-0.
31 min: Vinicius turns into the Celtic box from the left and has a whack. For once the ball doesn’t hit a Celtic arm and Taylor is able to clear.
30 min: …and then Real nearly make it three. Again. Asensio sends Rodrygo into acres down the right, then positions himself for the return pass on the edge of the Celtic box. It should come, but doesn’t. Celtic clear.
28 min: Now it’s Hatate’s turn to have a dig from 25 yards. Striding down the inside right, he sends a diagonal riser towards the top left. Courtois extends fully to parry. Celtic could very easily have scored a couple. It’s been a strange game.
26 min: Celtic’s press forces Militao into giving up the ball. Suddenly it’s a three on one attack! The ball’s shuttled right for Kyogo, who enters the box with only Courtois to beat … but slams his shot straight at the keeper. A fine parry, but he should never have been allowed to make it.
24 min: That really was a sitter. No wonder Vinicius has his head in his hands and a puzzled expression on his face. Celtic may have looked lively in attack, but they’ve been utterly shambolic in defence.
22 min: It should be three. Rodrygo dribbles down the right, reaches the byline, and tugs back for Vinicius, free 12 yards out. He simply has to score, but leans back and hoicks over. What a miss!
GOAL! Real Madrid 2-0 Celtic (Rodrygo 21 pen)
Rodrygo sends Hart in the opposite direction this time, and slots into the bottom left.
Updated
Penalty for Real Madrid!
20 min: Stéphanie Frappart goes over to the monitor, watches the ball ping off O’Riley’s elbow, performs the internationally recognised mime for TV, points at the spot, and books the Celtic man. Rodrygo, who earned the spot kick, will take this one.
Updated
19 min: Modric slips a gorgeous pass down the right to release Asensio into space. Asensio rolls across for Vinicius, who slams straight at Hart. He should have made it two. But the ball breaks to Rodrygo, who has a dig himself. The ball claps off O’Riley’s hanging arm, and VAR wants a look at this.
17 min: Abada crosses from the right. Kyogo chests down for Hatate, who creams a first-time shot over the bar from the edge of the box. Celtic are making plenty of chances here.
15 min: Taylor ships possession carelessly, gifting the ball to Asensio out on the right. Asensio rolls a pass across the face of the Celtic box for Valverde, who takes a poor touch before slicing a dismal effort miles wide left.
14 min: Some space for Hatate down the left. He’s got Maeda and Abada in the middle. Maeda meets Hatate’s low cross with a telescopic leg, but can only divert the ball harmlessly wide right. Had he left that for his team-mate, Abada was surely scoring the equaliser. Celtic are looking extremely lively in attack.
12 min: Christopher Nkunku has given Leipzig the lead against Shakhtar in Warsaw. As things stand, the Germans have consolidated second place in Group F.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 6 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | -8 | 2 |
10 min: Now it’s O’Riley’s turn to look for Kyogo, down the inside-left channel this time. Again the touch isn’t perfect, and the ball trundles through to Courtois. Celtic look capable of making some chances here.
9 min: Mooy slips a pass infield from the right for Kyogo, who has the opportunity to break into the Real box down the channel but takes a heavy touch and sends the ball out for a goal kick.
7 min: All of a sudden, Celtic are all over the show, and Vinicius skitters down the left before drifting into the box. His shot is blocked by Starfelt and Celtic clear their lines.
GOAL! Real Madrid 1-0 Celtic (Modric 6 pen)
Modric gives Hart the eyes, sending the keeper one way, then whipping into the bottom right. Clinical.
Updated
Penalty for Real Madrid
5 min: … but all that good work is undone with a wave of Jenz’s arm. Vinícius shoots from a tight angle on the right. The ball breaks back to Valverde, who doesn’t connect well with his shot … but it doesn’t matter, because the ball bounces back up onto the arm Jenz was waving about. Oh dear.
4 min: Abada is found in some space down the right, but his heavy touch puts a stop to Celtic’s gallop. This is a decent start by the visitors, who have come out of the traps on the front foot.
2 min: Maeda closes down Courtois, whose clearance pings back out for a goal kick. Celtic have clearly decided that, given they don’t get to play here too often, they’re not going to die wondering.
1 min: A bright-ish start by Celtic, as Mooy presses forward, then feeds Juranović out on the right. Juranović wangs his cross deep into the stand behind.
Real get the ball rolling. A rare old atmosphere at the Bernabeu, despite all the rebuilding.
The teams are out! Real Madrid wear their meringue white, while Celtic go with second-choice green and black. We’ll be off in a couple of Zadok-soundtracked minutes.
Ange Postecoglu, speaking to BT Sport, rues the loss through injury of Cameron Carter-Vickers. “We’ve had a few of those blows during this campaign, and it’s disappointing for him more than anything else. Tonight isn’t about one player making the difference, we’ll need a massive collective effort from everybody to make an impact against a fantastic football team. There’s meaning in everything we do, especially at this level. We’ve got fantastic support again tonight and an opportunity to send them home happy. More importantly, we can give them some hope against the future. To do that we’ve got to perform really well.”
There’s plenty still to be decided in Group F. Real will seal top spot with a win this evening. Leipzig just need a point against Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw to qualify for the last 16, but if the Ukrainians win, they’ll make it through instead. Leipzig can only win the group if they beat Shakhtar and Celtic get something in Madrid. Celtic will finish bottom no matter what.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 2 | RB Leipzig | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 5 | -7 | 2 |
Here’s a reminder of what happened at Parkhead a couple of months ago …
… and when the teams were drawn together in the 1979-80 European Cup.
Celtic make four changes to the starting XI named for the 3-0 win at Livingston on Sunday. Carl Starfelt, Liel Abada, Daizen Maeda and Josip Juranović are in; Sead Hakšabanović, James Forrest and Anthony Ralston drop to the bench, while Cameron Carter-Vickers misses out through injury.
Real Madrid make two changes to the XI that started the 1-1 home draw with Girona. Éder Militão and Marco Asensio replace Eduardo Camavinga and Antonio Rüdiger, who drop to the bench. Karim Benzema, who has missed Real’s last seven matches with a muscle injury, is named as a sub.
Updated
The teams
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Eder Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Asensio, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Vallejo, Nacho, Benzema, Camavinga, Lunin, Odriozola, Lucas, Ceballos, Rudiger, Mariano, Lopez.
Celtic: Hart, Juranovic, Starfelt, Jenz, Taylor, Mooy, Hatate, Abada, O’Riley, Maeda, Furuhashi.
Subs: Giakoumakis, Haksabanovic, Turnbull, McCarthy, Jota, Bernabei, Abildgaard, Bain, Siegrist, Forrest, Ralston, Welsh.
Referee: Stephanie Frappart (France).
Preamble
There’s nothing riding on this for Celtic at all. Whatever happens at the Bernabeu tonight, Ange Postecoglu’s men will finish Group F in last place. There’ll be a few quid in it if they win, but let’s not reduce it to that. Real though need a win to be sure of top spot. If they fail to win, and Leipzig win at Shakhtar Donetsk, the Germans will leapfrog them into first place. So there’s that. Kick off is at 5.45pm GMT. It’s on!
