Champions League: Atletico Madrid 6 Celtic 0
[Griezmann 6, 60, Morata 45, 76, Lino 66, Niguez 84]
“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 Champions League, it also leaves them bottom of Group E on a single point, left with little chance of even dropping into the Europa League. Nor was it just the figures, it was the way this felt; theirs was a team taken apart, two goals each from Antoine Griezmann and Álvaro Morata, plus one each for the substitutes Samuel Lino and Saúl Ñíguez underlining a huge gulf between these sides.
If Rodgers had said, not without reason, that his team deserved more than the point with which they arrived in Madrid; if they had indeed had their moments in Rotterdam and against Lazio and Atlético at home; if they had, as he claimed, surprised their opponents with the “quality and intensity” of their football; if, in short, they had competed in their opening three games, here they did not. They could not. Atlético never let them. Nor it must be said, did they help themselves. Atlético had won 15 consecutive games here, so it was going to be hard enough anyway. With 10 men for 70 minutes, it was impossible.
“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 Celtic 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.
Football is less forgiving too, and when Callum McGregor’s header fell to Griezmann on the edge of the area, he controlled and sent it back again, the ball skidding into the net off Cameron Carter-Vickers’ boot.
Five minutes in, Atlético were already a goal up. Five minutes later it might have been two, a wonderful sweeping move taking them from one area to the other, where McGregor had to block Rodrigo Riquelme’s shot. And five minutes after that, they were a man up as well, when Daizen Maeda was sent off for a challenge on Mario Hermoso.
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. He and Riquleme combined superbly for a shot over soon after and seemed to be enjoying this, picking their way through with an apparent ease. Indeed, if there was a problem for them it was that it might feel a little too easy, lacking in the urgency to close this out.
The lead was still only one goal, after all, and there was a warning when Morata almost sliced a corner into his own net. A sharp save from Jan Oblak prevented that, and Atlético took a step up again. Nahuel Molina volleyed wide off a clever clipped ball from Griezmann, Morata had the ball in the net but was offside and Joe Hart saved from Griezmann at the near post before Atlético got the second just before half-time. It was superb too. An outrageous 30-yard diagonal from Griezmann found Josema Giménez to nod into the path of Morata to score.
As the second half began, still they came. Hart saved from Ángel Correa, Giménez hit the bar, then Griezmann turned sideways to connect with volley that flew into the net for the third.
But there was more fun to be had for the home fans, more suffering for the Celtic supporters. Griezmann had barely sat down when one of the two men heading in the other direction, Lino, was celebrating the fourth, sending a belting shot bending into the far corner. If that was well hit, Morata’s shot for the fifth was even better. Saúl, then, made it six, a reflection of a reality. - Guardian
