Group F | Matchday 1
Real Madrid begins the defense of its European throne by measuring itself with high guard against Celtic in a talismanic city
Real Madrid returns to Glasgow, a talismanic city that saw the Chamartín club raise the Fifth and the Ninth, with their guard up. The current European champion begins the defense of the throne that he regained on May 28 in Paris against Celtic, another team with a long-standing pedigree that seeks to celebrate in style its return to the top continental competition five years later.
Outstanding and undefeated leader of the Scottish Premier, the team supervised by the Greek-Australian Ange Postecoglou since the summer of 2021 arrives full of morale at the event, after massacring Rangers at the Old Firm last Saturday and thus prolonging the formidable streak of 38 games consecutive without knowing the defeat that the Catholic team accumulates in its domestic tournament. A full-fledged warning that, despite the distance that separates the two squads that will cross sabers in the legendary Celtic Park, the king of the Old Continent will have to sweat the fat drop to overcome the ambush and start the journey towards Istanbul with a firm step .
In the Turkish capital will be located, on June 10 of next year, the goal of a journey that begins thousands of kilometers away for the current bearer of that crown for which the rest of European football landlords sigh. Keeping it tight and out of the reach of its ruthless opponents is the purpose of the team led by Carlo Ancelotti, record holder of the competition with the four wounds that he treasures as a coach.
The Italian helmed, with that soft hand that has made him a legend on the bench, the most epic assault on the Champions League of all time. He is now preparing to write another epic, although he trusts that the poem will start without the need for his first verses to acquire supernatural overtones.
For this reason, instructed as he is by the experience that his team deals better with the miuras than when it comes to coping with steers, and fully aware that in today’s football it is not convenient to underestimate any opponent, Ancelotti recalled as soon as he finished of litigating Real Madrid with Betis that Celtic could be a trap duel for the whites. An excess of confidence, like the one they suffered last year against the Sheriff, could take its toll on them because the Bhoys are in an excellent dynamic.
Modric, centenary
To counteract this danger, the Reggiolo coach will appeal to the trade of veterans dressed in battles of all colors like Modric, who will spend a hundred European nights in Scotland wearing the Real Madrid jacket. The Croatian, who will turn 37 on Friday, is getting used to entering the wheel of rotations, but his competition at Celtic Park seems vital to anesthetize a block that likes to feel protagonist with the ball, presents a threat considerable on the flanks and brimming with gunpowder at the start of the campaign in which he has scored 25 goals in six league games. An intimidating record that, in any case, must be put in its proper context, as it is a championship of lower rank such as the Scottish one.
Kroos, who only played the last leg of the match against Betis, recovers the status of starter that Tchouaméni maintains, the great sensation of the moment in the ‘white house’ due to the superb authority with which he has collected Casemiro’s stripes. Above, Ancelotti returns the right flank of the attack to Valverde, despite Rodrygo’s display on Saturday at the Bernabéu.
The host side, which the globalization of football has turned into a true Tower of Babel, but which is still fueled by the memory of that European Cup won in Lisbon against Helenio Herrera’s Inter by a Celtic that formed with an entirely Scottish eleven , leaves Furuhashi on the bench. The Japanese, a great offensive reference for the Postecoglou team together with the Israeli Abada, suffered a shoulder injury during the Old Firm on Saturday and, despite training on Monday, his coach initially opted for the Greek Giakoumakis. Swedish centre-back Carl Starfelt, with a limp knee, is out.
lineups
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Celtic:
Hart, Juranovic, Carter-Vickers, Jenz, Taylor, O’Riley, McGregor, Hatate, Abada, Jota, and Giakoumakis. -
Real Madrid:
Courtois, Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Tchouaméni, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Benzema and Vinicius. -
Referee:
Sandro Schärer (Switzerland). -
Hour:
9:00 p.m. -
Stadium:
Celtic Park. -
TV:
Movistar Champions League.
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