Trivia
- Celtic straight into group stages.
- Gustaf Lagerbielke expects Celtic’s Champions League group with Atletico Madrid, Feyenoord and Lazio to be “fun”. (Sep 2023)
- A three game package for an adult £138 which is £46 a game. The three game concession package being £108 which is £36 a game and the under 13 package coming in at £96 which is £32 a game.
- In initial Celtic squad for the tournament: some notable absences: Maik Nawrocki, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Siegrist, Kobayashir & Marco Tilio absent.
- Celtic win their first Champions League group match for ten years! With Lagerbielke scoring the winner at the death of the final match, in 2-1 win at home v Feyenoord.
- Celtic finish bottom with 4pts, but there are other sides with worse points total.
- Poor record, with three sending offs, just poor luck.
- Copenhagen finish second in their group with Galatassary & Man Utd behind them (Man Utd finish bottom).
- Context/perspective: Celtic finished with the same group points as: Braga Benfica Man U RB Salzburg YB Berne We gained more pts than: Antwerp Cro Zagreb Sevilla U Berlin We also got double the points this yr compared to 2 points last season.
Overview
“I think success for us as a club is to be in Europe after Christmas. That’s what our aim is.”
Brendan Rodgers Sep 2023
With Celtic entering straight into the group stages, there was massive relief. The entry of Rodgers was hoped to helped raise some confidence that Celtic could finally push forward for a change after countless underwhelming performances, especially last season which saw Celtic hit poor low, with the only positive being that Sevco sunk even further south.
Rodgers himself opined that “I think success for us as a club is to be in Europe after Christmas. That’s what our aim is.” It would kind of come back to haunt him.
The group on paper was not by any means the toughest that Celtic could have got, and thankfully Celtic avoided the toughest seeds in the competition. Feyenoord, Athletico Madrid & Lazio were a varied section which at least on paper Celtic had a better chance of taking something.
However, even after just the first match, expectations sunk to the floor. Celtic lost 2-0 away to Feyenoord, with two Celts sent off in the match to compound matters. Celtic actually played well at times but did shoot themselves in the foot. A penalty save from Joe Hart was the highlight for all, but Hatate who was sent off sufferred an injury and was out long-term, our most valuable player.
After that, a 2-1 loss to Lazio was no surprise but off-field concerns was worrying. Lazio were actually going through a full-blown crisis after their worst league start in 21 years. Yet Celtic blew the opportunity, after taking a deserved lead but then letting Lazio equalise, with a very late injury time goal (90+5 mins) partly the fault of Carter-Vickers, and already it all looked over.
A comeback of sorts with a 2-2 draw with Athletico at home raised spirts, albeit the large Palestinian flag displays were causing consternation due to the Israel/Hamas/Palestine conflict in full force. Out of all the performances this was the best one, but Celtic came down to earth in the away leg with a 6-0 thumping, with Celtic hampered by an early sending off for Maeda. You can’t argue with this
Lazio sealed Celtic’s fate with a 2-0 victory in the penultimate match, which saw Celtic once gain collapse despite a spirited display. Late in the game Lazio brought on two top quality goalscorers to play against our tiring and booked defenders and our tired midfield, and it worked. Both goals avoidable for Celtic, but that was our responsibility to sort it out.
The final match was a dead rubber match, but Celtic finally won a Champions League group match for the first time in ten years, winning with a late goal by Lagerbielke in injury time. Admittedly though, Feyenoord could have won the game, but thankfully not. There was room for pride but admission that Celtic were hardly wholly convincing. Curiously for a dead rubber match, the game was well fought by both sides, albeit the referee let Feyenoord get away with too many challenges unpunished.
If the benchmark was to reach third to win further games in Europe in the new year, well Rodgers had failed. Some blamed the board but in fairness the money had been spent and there was a bloated squad.
In fairness to Rodgers, there were some major issues with injuries, losing CCV (on/off), Narowski, Lagerbielke, Hatate, Abada and Maeda etc, it wasn’t easy to set the team up.
In truth, there was poor luck for Celtic, and it was small margins but there’s just so often you are unlucky. Celtic had to prove themselves more, but had once again failed to. Rodgers has to date a poor record in the Champions League with Celtic. He is a highly regarded manager, but his whole tactics had to be overhauled.
Whatever, it was another sad unwanted challenge in the competition, and Celtic were back to the drawing board.
Matches
| Date | Competition | Home Team | Score | Score | Away Team | Report | Pictures | Notes |
| SEP | ||||||||
| 19 | European Cup | Feyenoord | 2 | 0 | Celtic | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Match 1 |
| OCT | ||||||||
| 04 | European Cup | Celtic | 1 | 2 | Lazio | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Match 2 |
| 25 | European Cup | Celtic | 2 | 2 | Atletico de Madrid | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Match 3 |
| NOV | ||||||||
| 07 | European Cup | Atletico de Madrid | 6 | 0 | Celtic | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Match 4 |
| 28 | European Cup | Lazio | 2 | 0 | Celtic | Report | Pictures | KO: 17:45; Match 5 |
| DEC | ||||||||
| 13 | European Cup | Celtic | 2 | 1 | Feyenoord | Report | Pictures | KO: 20:00; Match 6 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Atletico de Madrid | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 14 |
| 2 | Lazio | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Feyenoord | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -1 | 6 |
| 4 | Celtic | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 4 |
Quotes
“I think success for us as a club is to be in Europe after Christmas. That’s what our aim is.”
Brendan Rodgers Sep 2023