Celtic fought as hard as they could but it was never going to be enough as Real Madrid exerted their gulf in class and it showed. Confortbale 5-1 winners in the end, the big highlight however was the phenomenal Jota goal from a free-kick that gave our supporters something to cheer about in the Santiago Bernabèu on the night.
Despite external criticism for the hefty defeat, there have been those who dished out praise. Steve McManaman insisted on BT Sport that the players, manager and club can be proud of their efforts as we took the game to the holders of the European Cup and managed to create openings. The sufferings of previous matches were on display however, as we failed to take any chances.
Greg Tayor spoke afterwards, reaffirming the belief within the group and also the demand at our club that, regardless of opposition, we go all out to win and put on a performance for the fans. The full-back didn’t match up all that badly against the might of Los Blancos and did provide an outlet down the left side of the pitch.
Defiantly, Taylor revealed in an interview with PLZ Soccer after the game that “We’re Celtic, we expect to win every game no matter what level it’s at.” And that is a sign of is it how far this Celtic team has come in such a short space of time since the disaster that happened a couple of years back.
Watch Greg give his thoughts on the match:
Paul Gillespie
“A big congratulations to our fans who were at the stadium (in and outside the parking lot), as well as to the fans in town, they were more than 7000 who made the trip to Madrid, and as always, they put the atmosphere and good humor until after the match, despite the result.”