Carlo Ancelotti confesses about his poor Celtic Park record

The Champions League is finally back and so are Celtic. The Hoops will be making their return to Europe’s elite competition after a long absence and this is where they belong. Their comeback game is as big as possible too, as the Scottish champions welcome current holders, Real Madrid, to Parkhead.

Real Madrid won the competition last season by beating the likes of PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool, when very few people had given them a chance to do so. In fact, it was quite similar to Celtic’s Premiership triumph against all odds.

Now, the two sides meet at the grandest stage of all. Expect Celtic Park to be absolutely rocking on the occasion.

While Celtic Park might be a place that most players look forward to playing at, Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, does not have happy memories of the ground. The Italian’s legendary AC Milan side came up against the Hoops at Parkhead on three occasions. Two of those games ended in 0-0 draws while the other one was a 2-1 victory for the Bhoys in Green and White.

Ancelotti confesses about his poor record at Celtic Park

As reported by The Herald, the Real Madrid manager said while talking about his previous experiences at Celtic Park:

"“Yes, it is true, it has not been a really good stadium for me and my teams in the past.“I don’t have a clear memory of being here. We played Celtic twice in the group stages and once in the last 16 when we were able to win in Milan after extra-time.“What can I say? This has been a really difficult stadium for me and my teams in the past, but it is a fantastic atmosphere. I love that my teams can play in this atmosphere.”"

Celtic will have to make sure that they take the full advantage of the home atmosphere, if they are to take anything out of this game.

On paper, Real Madrid have the far superior squad but the great thing is that football matches are never won and lost on paper. When Celtic take to the pitch against the European giants, they must have the belief that they can get a win against them. It is not something that cannot be done. We saw them lose to Sheriff Tiraspol last time around. And the Spanish giants lost three games in the knockout phases, even though they would go on to ultimately win the competition.