This match in the UEFA Champions League saw the champions of Scotland taking on the champions of Belgium. Club Brugges were the better team in the first half at Celtic Park in this match-up – Kasper Schmeichel & Auston Trusty of Celtic were crucial in holding the fort for Celtic defensively. Nicky Hayen’s men really surprised the Parkhead support & showed themselves to be an outstanding team, befitting of their Club’s great history, and doing the Belgian Jupiler League proud as champions for 4 of the past 5 seasons. Many also expected the Club Brugges fans to be supportive but somewhat passive; Club Brugges however brought a raucous army of support who rose to the occasions & were just as wild (if not wilder) than the Celtic fans with the support, encouragement & noise they gave to their team, especially in the 1st half. Club Brugges really left everyone in Glasgow in no doubt that this is one or Europe’s great clubs – a fantastic half of football they played, and desevedly had the lead at half-time.
What also surprised Celtic was the tactical shrewdness of coach Nicky Hayens – this is a coach who has really tenaciously earned his stripes as a coach & not so long ago was managing in the League of Wales – his shape & tactics really outfoxed opposing Celtic head-honcho Brendan Rodgers in the first half. In the first half Club Brugges were able to press Celtic very well & when in possession were extremely slick & dangerous.
Rodgers however was able to make some adjustment at half-time - moving the shape with Daizen Maeda & Reo Hatate - which saw Celtic gain the ascendancy in the second half. Celtic’s midfield engine room of Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate, and Arne Engels have been a formidable trio this season (RB Leipzig head coach Marco Rose described Celtic as ‘running marathons’); Christos Tzolis & Raphael Onyedika met them head-on however in what was a fascinating battle throughout the game. This was the key area of the pitch – Club Brugges had the better of this in the first half, and Celtic had the better of this in the second half.
The real turning point in the second half was the introduction of Alex Valle & Paulo Bernardo coming on as substitutes for Celtic – Valle & Bernardo acquitted themselves excellently, and from that impact-point on Celtic started to dominate. Daizen Maeda then seized upon this upturn in momentum & scored an absolute screamer of a goal after a superb turn – with his shot hitting the same post & going in as Chris Sutton’s goal against Barcelona in this same competition in 2004. Celtic were perhaps unlucky not to smuggle a winner, with a clever Bernardo effort going just wide, however, you could also say that about Club Brugges as well. Despite Celtic being in the ascendancy in the second half, Club Brugges showed that they can also dig the trenches defensively & held on for the draw, in what was ultimately a fair result.
All in all, it seems that Celtic really always struggle badly after international breaks. International breaks seem to cause chaos with the regimen the players follow. This performance does show that to be at our best levels really requires great focus, however, it nonetheless showed that even when not at our best we can still dig deep to rally & grind out a hard fought point against top-class opposition. Hopefully, we can return to our very best level in the next 3 games (& hopefully beyond if indeed the Bhoys can get one more victory).
This hard-fought draw really sets up Celtic Park for Wednesday 22nd of January, 2025, 8pm, when Celtic take on the champions of Switzerland, Young Boys of Berne. Off the back of that draw, a victory for the Bhoys could be enough to reach the knock-out stages of the Champions. That is going to be an epic Celtic Park encounter not to be missed!
Player ratings
Kasper Schmeichel, 8.5 (Joint Man of the Match) – Outstanding save in the second half. Also showed excellent leadership throughout to steady the ship. A colossus who has shown himself to be one of Europe’s great goalkeeper’s in the Champions League this season.
Greg Taylor, 5 – After a superb assist for the winning goal vs RB Leipzig in the previous match, it was hoped he would push on, however, he really struggled to establish his authority defensively, caused little to no threat going forward, and was not his usual self in the inverted position linking up the play.
Alisdair Johnston, 6.5 – Was okay & solid, and that is about it really.
Cameron Carter Vickers, 6 – Was very unlucky with his own-goal. It really affected his confidence as well. CCV has been a rock for Celtic & his statistics are unbelievable, and he really has been a phenomenom at the heart of the defence, but this extremely unlucky own-goal reminded us he is only human. The Rock nonetheless hung in there & was solid defensively with decent distribution apart from that.
Auston Trusty, 8.5 (Joint Man Of The Match) Was absolutely solid defensively & useful moving forward with the ball. Made one mistake when Kasper Schmeichel bailed him out with a world-class save. Trusty & CCV really are 2 Towers of strength (along with Scales as well of course).
Callum McGregor, 7 – Kept things ticking over in midfield. Never quite got a grip of the game in an extremely tough midfield battle with Onyedika & Tzolis. Tenacious play in the final third followed by an excellent stabbed pass for Hatate which just went wide was almost brilliant.
Reo Hatate, 6.5 – Worked extremely hard throughout, both defensively & offensively. Was extremely unlucky with an effort in the first half where he had a lot more time than he thought, and another effort in the second half which went inches wide.
Arne Engels, 6 – Tremendous work-rate in the midfield & got himself into great positions, but his passing never quite came off. The fans have very high expectations of him, & with his maturity on the pitch some people forget he has played a lot of football this season in the box-to-box number 8 position, though it is important to remember he has only recently turned 21 (very much in the Stan Petrov mould).
Nicolas Kuhn, 7 – A constant threat throughout & was very unlucky on a number of occasions.
Daizen Maeda, 8 –Absolutely fantastic goal & moment of absolute quality! One of the great Celtic Champions League goals, though the Bhoys unfortunately could not smuggle in a winner. Fantastic work-rate as usual defensively. Had the beating of the Club Brugges full-back but perhaps recycled the ball too often rather than going at the opposing full-back (either inside or outside).
Kyogo Furuhashi, 7 – Worked hard & always kept their defence on their toes. Was unlucky in the first half with a close effort. Never really got the service from the wide players, midfielders & full-backs to allow him to excel.
Alex Valle, 8 – Brilliant when he came on. Changed the game in Celtic’s favour. Great assist for the equaliser.
Paulo Bernardo 8, - Brilliant when he came on as well. Helped Celtic not just win but dominate the midfield battle. Was extremely unlucky not to score the winning goal with a magical piece of play.
James Forrest, 6.5 –Was okay when he came on & provided his usual poise on the ball. Was unlucky some of his passes never came off.
Adam Idah, 6.5 – Gave Celtic a physical presence up front, held the ball up well, and linked up the play well. Helped the team to start to dominate the game. Couldn’t quite find that goal or assist could not provide that decisive goal or assist to win the game.
Brendan Rodgers, 7 – Made excellent adjustments & substitutions to turn the game in Celtic’s favour at half time. Unfortunately, the team could not smuggle a winner.