Huge gulf in quality between the two sides as Celtic’s Maeda was sent off
“We’re not here just to be a support act,” Brendan Rodgers had said but this time Celtic were not even that good and in all probability they won’t be here at all for very much longer. A crushing 6-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid not only leaves them virtually out of the , it also leaves them bottom of Group E on a single point, left with little chance of even dropping into the Europa League.
“We’re not daft; we know we need to get a positive result from this game to take into the final two matches,” Rodgers had said, but any chance they had to do so was gone almost as soon as it had started. The coach had insisted that his team would be willing to play, to be themselves and want the ball. The problem is that, put simply, the level is higher here, the style harder to impose, the ball not yours alone.
Having initially shown a yellow card, the referee, Ivan Kruzliak, was called to the VAR screen to take a second look and replaced it with a red. There was no malicious intent but Maeda was late and planted a set of studs into Hermoso’s shin. Until then, Maeda had been the player who most troubled Atlético – one superb nutmeg on Riquleme stood out, forcing Griezmann to snuff out the danger deep inside Atlético’s area. From then, no one really did. Atlético took control. Griezmann, in particular, glided. Recognition may be denied him too often but what a player he is, all things in all parts of the pitch.