Shakhtar Donetsk boss makes brilliant Celtic Park admission

Igor Jovicevic deserves a lot of credit for the job that he has done as the manager of Shakhtar Donetsk. Coming into the Champions League campaign, they were viewed as the weak link of the group. Yet, going into the final matchday, there is a chance that they could still make it to the knockout phase of the competition. Unfortunately, it has come at the expense of Celtic.

Celtic could have easily won their games vs Shakhtar but were only able to get 1-1 draws from them on both occasions.

Of course, Shakhtar fans could argue that they could have won the game at Parkhead as well, after what was an incredible open goal miss from them, when they had the chance to go 2-1 up.

Ultimately, it was a much closer game than the reverse fixture in Poland, which Celtic could have and should have won, as they had enough opportunities to score four or five goals on that day. It turned out to be a much more positive display from Shakhtar at Parkhead, even though the Hoops had the lion’s share of the ball and attempts again.

Shakhtar Donetsk boss makes brilliant Celtic Park admission

The Shakhtar Donetsk manager did seem to enjoy his day out at Celtic Park. As reported by the Daily Record, Jovicevic said:

"“Our young team did not give up in the incredible atmosphere at Celtic which was the most intense I have ever felt as a manager. It was the same noise as when I made my debut for Real Madrid, I played a friendly match against Benfica in front of 120,000 people.“There really was an unprecedented atmosphere in Glasgow, we couldn’t hear each other on the bench because of the noise. You rarely see such fanaticism of fans these days. We are really a very young team, we have no experience when it comes to playing in such circumstances – and we reduced Celtic to two chances. They score five or six goals every week in the Scottish championship. And they have their best team in the last twenty years.“We could have won, but the point is phenomenal because it secured the Europa League in the spring. I have to say how good it was when we managed to calm down the Celtic fans with our game in Glasgow. It was a great feeling when we were keeping possession of the ball. And when we scored a goal, everything turned into silence, which gave us additional motivation – we all felt ‘that’s it.’“At the end of the game, the Celtic fans applauded us off the pitch. You know what the Scots are like – good, honest fans. It was a really great gesture.”"

It goes without saying that Celtic are known for their atmosphere at Parkhead, especially on big nights in Europe.

Unfortunately though, Celtic have not been able to convert that incredible atmosphere into wins in the Champions League. They managed just one draw and lost two at Parkhead, while scoring only once.

While it is great to hear players and managers praise the Celtic Park atmosphere, at this point, most fans would rather take wins instead. Their only chance to get a win in the Champions League this season is the remaining game vs Real Madrid, at Santiago Bernabeu.