NOVEMBER for Celtic was marked by a high point of European football in recent years, not because of the stage or the name of the opponent, but rather because in RB Leipzig they were up against a strong opponent who had control of the game and then made very light work of turning things round.
It was actually hard work, of course. Celtic hounded and harried their German opponents into submission, but the scale of the task did not daunt them and once the Scottish champions found their rhythm they were in a groove that made the visitors suffer and set Celtic Park alight.
By the level of their performance Brendan Rodgers’ men showed that there won’t be many teams in Europe who could cope with this intensity. Leipzig struggled to maintain their composure, and though they held a threat throughout, Celtic were able to play through a very strong opponent.
The result was all the more impressive considering the adversity Celtic were facing just a few weeks ago. Following their drubbing in Dortmund, a visit to Atalanta ahead of the game against another German outfit didn’t offer much cause for optimism. In fact, though, those games have been the foundation of a strong effort at qualification, with four points gathered from six available.
Praise
Rodgers was glowing in his praise for his team and will be proud of himself for how he has taken Celtic up a notch on the European stage. He has managed some good results so far across his two spells, but really the best that could have been said about Rodgers up until now is that he has punched at his weight. The Leipzig victory marked the first time that Rodgers has gone out in Europe’s best competition and taken a scalp.
“It’s a great night for the football club,” he said. “The result, the performance, the energy in the stadium. The supporters will go away feeling really good about their team. The players deserve all the credit in the world. They started the game really well, played with confidence, pressed the game well. But we played our way in to the game, showed a maturity to get the ball working again and then we get the goal.
“Over the course of the game I thought we were really dominant, both in our pressing of the game and our hunger for the second goal. We got that and then I thought in the second half we managed the game really well.
“We’ve beaten Leipzig before and won other games at this level, but I think just the quality of the team that they have and seeing where they sit. They’ve only conceded five goals all season, so for us to score three and had other opportunities tells you how vibrant the team was and how exciting they were.
“There’s no doubt, in terms of result and level of opponent, this is the best one. That’s three games in a row we’ve won here in the Champions League. After Dortmund, if you had said we would get four points from the next two games against Atalanta and RB Leipzig, people wouldn’t have believed you.”
Domestic dominance
After the highs of their Champions League victory, Celtic returned to earth with a visit to Kilmarnock on league duty. Derek McInnes has built a good Kilmarnock team, who might not have a lot of craft but who are physical and aggressive and left Celtic reeling at times in a similar way to RB Leipzig on the visit to the Glasgow.
Any performance review of a visit to Rugby Park comes with a disclaimer about the playing surface, but despite that it was still a less than vintage effort from the Champions. Three points was the result, as it usually is, but it was a reminder that for any game in Scotland you must first earn the right to play before you can think about the type of dominant performances Celtic are so used to.
Against Killie the flicks and first time passes came before the security of knowing that the game was in Celtic’s hands, and the result was a match where Kilmarnock threatened throughout and Kasper Schmeichel was called upon more than once to give the clean sheet they emerged with.
In the end the quality of the visitors told in front of goal, but it is a reminder to Celtic that while great progress is coming in Europe, the routine domestic scene can still cause problems. As Celtic engage in a novel title tussle with Aberdeen—who show no signs of stopping thus far—it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the problems which Celtic are showing they are capable of causing stronger teams in Europe aren’t a million miles from the problems which can land on Celtic’s own doorstep in Scotland if their eyes go off the ball.
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