Celtic failed to capitalise on the chances that they got against Real Madrid and could have easily been 2 or 3 goals up. Just that sentence tells how far the Hoops have come under the management of Ange Postecoglou in such a short period of time. Ultimately, the European champions managed to get the better of them in the second half and came out of Parkhead with a 3-0 win.
There is a lot to be proud of this team for sure. The fact that they went toe-to-toe with Real Madrid and actually outperformed them for a good portion of the game is a victory in itself.
Yet, they did not get anything out of the game to show for it, not even a goal. That is also a fact. And if Celtic are to get out of this group, which they showed that they are capable of, then they will need to be more clinical moving forward, especially against the likes of RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Postecoglou was in no mood for excuses after the game or see this as a moral victory of sorts. He talked about the importance of taking the chances. When asked if it was a good start, the Celtic manager told beIN SPORTS:
"“No, because we lost. We lost at home. We have an opportunity, there are still five games to go in the group. We get an opportunity next week to hopefully get our campaign started.”"
Postecoglou makes brutally honest claim about Celtic’s 3-0 defeat vs Real Madrid
The comments from Postecoglou just go on to show that Celtic are not just in the Champions League to participate and face the big clubs for the novelty of it.
The manager clearly wants more out of this team and get them to the knockout phase of the competition.
To be honest, if Celtic can perform like they did in the first half on the night and prevent a collapse after the break, then they have a very solid chance against the likes of RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.
Their game surprisingly finished 4-1 in favour of Shakhtar Donetsk as RB Leipzig seem to be in trouble early on in the season.