One of the overlooked details from our last encounter with Atletico Madrid a fortnight ago in Glasgow has been the sending off and subsequent suspension of Rodrigo de Paul. The Argentinian will have to watch and cheer on his teammates from the sidelines as his ill-discipline at Celtic Park has cost him a place in the team for tonight.
Being without the World Cup winner is a massive blow for Diego Simeone and his team, as he really makes them tick in midfield. The midfielder has been the subject of much interest since his display in Qatar last winter time and it could be hard for the La Liga giants to keep hold of their star man in midfield for much longer.
He’s a true class act at this level, and it was fortunate for us that he was foolish enough to dive into that second challenge at Paradise a couple of weeks ago.
No matter who you are, when you take a player who has lifted the World Cup out of your team you are on the whole weaker for it. There are instances where that is not the case (Juninho at Celtic for example) but in the main, the experience and pedigree that exists within players like De Paul is extremely hard to replace.
I don’t care who Atletico name in the team tonight instead of Simeone’s countryman, he will not be of the same standard as the absentee enforcer.
His removal from the team does give Celtic an extra bonus that they wouldn’t have otherwise counted on beforehand when the fixtures were announced. However, Brendan Rodgers must ensure that we make it count on the night in that engine room area of the pitch.
Atleti like to put it about and play gamesmanship as we’ve all witnessed throughout the years and saw first hand at Celtic Park recently. So there’s no surprise now in that respect. But without De Paul they are significantly weakened in that department and we need to take advantage of that fact.
Remember; it’s fine margins at this level…
Paul Gillespie
