Neither Celtic nor Bruges were satisfied with the result at Celtic Park, with the draw not being enough for both of them, who have chances to qualify for the Champions League qualifiers, but not as much as before, especially for the Belgian team which was frustrated by Daizen Maeda 1-1 and faces a daunting schedule: Sporting de Portugal, Juventus and Manchester City, the latter absent.
The point is worth more to Celtic, who have eight points. They are still ahead of Bruges, with seven. And, above all, there are three less complicated games ahead: Dinamo Zagreb, Young Boys and Aston Villa. He will welcome the Swiss team to Celtic Park, the place where he is basing his faith to believe that he can go beyond the first stage. There he has gone 24 games without losing.
Therefore, this victory on Wednesday is very important for Bruges, even if it does not guarantee anything. The Belgian team showed its qualities, mainly in the first half. He was not intimidated by Celtic Park or its surroundings. Nor the sequence of victories of the Scottish team, winners of their six previous games or 22 of the last 25. Nor their strength in this territory. The green and white bloc has won 21 of its last 23 home games.
The Belgian team studied it. Their assembly is designed to perfection from the blackboard. The release of the ball, the pressure from above, the way he tackled the collision… It worked for him in the first half. Then, not so much. Every time they launched an attack in the set-up, Brugge outplayed Celtic. Accuracy, mobility, speed, ambition and, above all, a lot of previous work from his opponent and the match.
He was planted several times in the opposing area, without a clear shot until a left-footed shot from Skov Olsen, but there was an increasingly worrying feeling for the group led by Brendan Rodgers, who almost always arrived late.
0-1, in any case, was a disaster for Carter-Vickers and Celtic. In today’s football, the indisputable predisposition to so many opportunities to go out with the ball played, without being correct, even if the stress is more apparent, indicates the dangers. The Scottish team and the center suffered this, with an unfortunate transfer back sliding into the net, meekly, by the post, as their goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel, was at the other post.
Carter-Vickers did not look back when he chose such a common mechanism. The goalkeeper didn’t think so, as he ran to the other side early to give his team a clearer exit option. One decision and another combined with an own goal promoted a bigger challenge for Celtic: overcoming a 0-1 deficit in the Champions League.
The reaction was immediate. The Danish international goalkeeper gathered his entire team on the grass, like an improvised time-out from another sport. And Celtic woke up to the inertia of the goal against them, more present in the opponent’s half, less vulnerable, better able to read the rivalry they had lost until then in the game and on the scoreboard. And they approached the tie to the same extent that they pushed Bruges back, now less clairvoyant upwards.
The match was more balanced, at game time Maeda invented the tie. Brugge had forgiven them by then, with two chances, halted by a superb save from Schmeichel to De Cuyper and a high shot from Skov Olsen, when, suddenly, the Japanese international put his right foot in there isn’t much of an angle to the other post. He pressed the pole and went inside. Jutglà’s response, with a goal, was disallowed for offside.
match lineup
1
2
3
42
20
6
27
41
8
10
38
22
65
55
30
4
44
7
15
9
20
8
Celtic Park
Simon Mignolet22
Joaquin Seys65
91′
58′
Maxim De Cuyper55
Ardon Jashari30
25′
Joel Ordonez4
47′
Brandon Mechele44
75′
58′
Andreas Skov Olsen7
76′
Raphael Onyedika15
75′
Ferran Jutgla9
68′
76′
87′
Hans Vanaken20
59′
75′
Christos Tzolis8
91′
Replacements
Nordin Jackers29
Zaid Romero2
58′
Jorne Spielers58
Kyriani Sabbe64
Hugo Vetlesen10
Casper Nielsen27
91′
Romeo Vermant17
76′
58′
83′
Michal Skóras21
75′
Chemsdine Talbi68
76′
75′
87′
coach
Brendan Rodgers
Nicky Hayen
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
