Celtic were beaten by a much more streetwise and capable Valencia side on Thursday evening in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
After much build-up, the Scottish Champions did not know how to deal with a Spanish side willing to allow them to have the majority of possession and bide their time before striking when the opportunity presented itself.
Celtic had nearly double the number of completed passes as their opponents but more importantly, the Spanish side had more completed passes in the final third of the pitch. Celtic had possession and went nowhere with it.
The game will not be remembered by many as a classic and it will hopefully be quickly confined to the back of Celtic fans memories but it’s worth noting what the Spanish newspapers made of it all. While they couldn’t praise our players, they certainly praised the Celtic and Valencia fans.
Local newspapers Super Deport said ” one of the magical moments of the match”.
“When the match ended, the Celtic Park fans applauded the Valencia fans in recognition of the good game that Valencia played and also in recognition of the excellent behaviour that the fans had throughout the day in the city and during the game in the stadium.”
“As usual, the fans of Valencia gave an excellent image, encouraged their team and there was no altercation. “The fans of both teams exchanged scarves and the Valencians corresponded to the Scots with chants of “Celtic, Celtic”. The best finishing touch to a great match.” As reported by The Scotsman.
In other instances, Celtic Park was described as mystical by some papers.
Celtic fans are renowned for making Parkhead a cauldron on nights like Thursday. It’s a real shame we don’t get performances to match as often as we maybe should.
