Matt O’Riley credits Ange Postecoglou’s attacking system for making Tuesday’s game at Paradise much closer than most expected. Although Celtic did come up short in the end, loisng 3-0, O’Riley remains frustrated that Celtic never took anything from Real Madrid, as he believes Celtic played really well, but just weren’t clinical enough with their chances.
The midfielder was asked if Ange’s football philosophy was vindicated by Celtic’s performance against Real Madrid, and as he reflected on the Celtic performance against European giants, via The Glasgow Times.
“Of course it is,” Matt said. “We don’t know how big a club we are. Our supporters, it’s like one of the biggest clubs in the world – so we want to repay them by competing against these teams and actually winning games like this.”
“I think we’ve proven we can if we’re just a little bit more ruthless, have that bit more cutting edge in the final third. That’s just the difference. The reception we got from the fans was unbelievable, even after the game. We lost 3-0 but it almost felt like we’d won the game, that was the kind of support we got. That was cool from them.”
“In my opinion, the game could have been very different. We know how good a side they are, they control the game really well. But I think they only controlled it once they took the lead. If we took the first goal, and I think the first goal was massive, then it could’ve been a different matter,” O’Riley argued.
“The first 55 minutes or so, I’d say we were the better team in terms of the better chances. But, it was a lesson for us. There’s loads to learn for us, including for me personally. It just shows the difference at the very top level, they’re just so ruthless. We obviously can compete with these teams, we’ve proven that. But the result doesn’t show that and it’s disappointing.”
O’Riley also took to Twitter to solidify his thoughts on the match.
Lots to learn from last night.
Atmosphere was unbelievable..
Thank you Celts💚 pic.twitter.com/gmbQ0tuwK5— Matt O’Riley (@mattoriley8) September 7, 2022
Although Celtic lost to Real Madrid, the Hoops drew some valuable lessons from the game against the European Champions. This young Celtic side is still learning and will improve, as O’Riley states. if one thing can be taken from Tuesday’s Group stage game; Celtic now know that they can compete with the best teams in the world and are capable of performing at Champions League level, unlike some other teams playing this week.
