When Celtic were drawn into the same group as Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Feyenoord in the Champions League, a lot of fans felt that the Hoops had an outsider’s chance of getting into second or dropping down to the Europa League by finishing third. Their performance on the first matchday of Europe’s elite competition did not raise expectations though.
Celtic did look decent in the first half but their good work was undone from a Feyenoord free kick. It felt like a bad goal to concede, a chance both the wall and Joe Hart could have done better with.
On the other end of the group, Atletico Madrid and Lazio played out a 1-1 draw with the Italian team’s goalkeeper scoring an equaliser in the 95th minute of the game in a thrilling finish. That leaves Celtic bottom of their group after matchday one.
Thierry Henry does not seem to believe that Celtic will be making it out of their group. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the Arsenal icon said while talking on CBS Sports on Paramount+ (19/09/23 at 10:45 pm):
"“I don’t see Celtic going through, that’s for sure. I would still go with Jamie (Carragher). Atletico and Lazio (to progress), but it’s going to be tough with Feyenoord. It’s a good team, you know.”"
Henry completely rules out Celtic in blunt claim
Celtic certainly could have taken some positives from their game against Feyenoord. But overall, there were more worries.
The team just does not seem to have the experience to deal with these kinds of games. And that was on full show. Not only was the first goal a bad one to concede but they saw two of their players being sent off in quick succession as well, ending any chance they had of mounting a comeback.
Most fans wanted the club to bring in some established and experienced players over the summer in order to progress in the Champions League. They went for ‘project’ signings instead. And that might have been a mistake.