Celtic’s 1988 Centenary hero Frank McAvennie has spoke of his pride seeing Celtic once again compete in the Champions League group stages.
The Hoops took on reigning European champions Real Madrid last Tuesday night at Celtic Park and gave Los Blancos a good run for their money.
Although the game finished 3-0 to Carlo Ancelotti’s side there was a lot of pride in the Celts performance having held the Spaniards at 0-0 until 56 minutes in the game.
Ange Postecoglou’s side went toe-to-toe with the Spanish champions but rued the chances missed.
Celtic created plenty of chances with captain Callum McGregor cracking the post in the first half as well as Daizen Maeda having a big chance after the interval.
Under Postecoglou, Celtic have came a long way and will no doubt learn from this defeat going forward.
At the end of the game Celtic fans gave the players a standing ovation before they left field showing the unity that exists between them and the group at the moment.
“For an hour I was so proud of the boys, it was incredible”, said Frank McAvennie speaking to Football Insider.
“It wasn’t a 3-0 game. [Carlo] Ancelotti came out and praised them and said it was great. There’s so much of a difference between this year and last year. Last year we were getting battered in Europe. This year, the pace, the energy that Celtic had was much better.
“The more games they get the fitter they’ll get. Once it slowed down [Luka] Modric and [Toni] Kroos came into their own. I thought the defence was looking good. When you’re pressing and pressing, they manage to exploit it. They’re not the best team in Europe for nothing. It was superb to watch.
“The Celtic fans know the difference between this year and last year is incomprehensible, it’s incredible. The fans showed they’re behind the team and for an hour it was a great game.”
There’s a collectiveness at the club with Celtic able to build on their league winning success from the last campaign.
European football wasn’t the sole objective for Postecoglou’s side last season but now the Hoops want to once again make their mark in Europe’s elite competition.
