Liam Scaldini shines on a Night to Remember at Celtic Park

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The Celtic Star

·19 septembre 2024

Liam Scaldini shines on a Night to Remember at Celtic Park

Eddie Murray’s post-match thoughts on Celtic’s first ever opening day win in the Champions League as the Hoops hammer Slovan Bratislava 5-1…

Scaldini Shines On A Night To Remember In Paradise…

From the moment Celtic and Slovan Bratislava players entered the glittering Champions League arena, Parkhead was electric. When they lined up and Zadok the Priest was introduced the crowd rose as one, and the decibel levels would have woken Lazarus.

Even the Slovakian players were in awe as the Celtic support proved once again that they are among the elite in world football with a demonstration of vocal power and raw passion.

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‘Mad Vlad’ Weiss was the obvious target as the pumped-up Celts took his team mates to the cleaners. The ex-Ibrox panto villain was booed and heckled every time he got near the ball. To his credit, he would have pleased his dad who was coaching through splayed fingers. Vlad worked hard throughout, but the victims, sorry, visitors, needed more than just graft.

When Rod Stewart leapt from his seat to cuddle all and sundry, we felt it was going to be ‘one of those nights.’ Tony Watt came to mind…

We were right. The talk of the town was about Arne Engels; how would the youngster fare in the cauldron of European football? Well, the Belgian craftsman not only held his own, but put on a display for the fans who ventured that he may be the second coming – of Matt O’Riley that is!

Actually, he’s different. He has his own gifts, one which brought Celtic Park to its feet after 17 minutes when his perfect delivery found Liam Scales lurking with intent inside the box.

Liam’s header was so powerful that although the ‘keeper got a hand to it, the ball flashed into the back of the net. Celtic had scored in the Champions League and as the fans bounced the noise levels rose again, and Celtic went on the march. With a show of dominance and clever marking, Scales was rightly named Man of the Match, prompting wags in the crowd to rename him Scaldini.

Callum McGregor and the silky Arne Engels dominated the midfield whilst Reo Hatate caused all sorts of problems. In truth, Celtic could/should have been four up by half time, but poor finishing left us frustrated, although a 1-0 lead was welcome.

I was of the opinion that those misses might come back to haunt us, and history backed me on this. However, Brendan Rodgers took them by the scruff in the dressing room and the second half was extraordinary.

Celtic swarmed all over Bratislava with a display which belied our poor UCL standing. The full-backs, Alistair Johnston and Greg Taylor were immense as they flew into tackles and found the foraging front men with increasing regularity.

It was superb to watch, and with Daizen Maeda, Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn dominating a terrified backline, there was only going to be one winner. Kyogo eventually got his reward for his graft with a poacher’s finish, and Engels took his penalty with the aplomb of a veteran.

When Reo Hatate teed up his countryman, Daizen Maeda gleefully put the game beyond the Slovaks.

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Daizen Maeda celebrates scoring our fourth goal during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 match between Celtic and SK Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park on September 18, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The introduction of James Forrest and Adam Idah was inspired. James beautifully found Adam, and Adam beautifully found the net. 5-1, and both Irishmen scored on Champions League duty.

READ THIS…Sandman’s Definitive Champions League Ratings – Celtic v Balaclava (Part 1)

5-1? Well, Slovan scored a beauty in between the carnage, but it was too little, too late.

All in all, it was a night to remember as Celtic achieved their highest ever goal tally in an ECL match. Much of that is down to Brendan Rodgers and his tactical genius. Surely now the man has earned the right to swat his last remaining detractors off his back?

READ THIS…Sandman’s Definitive Champions League Ratings – Celtic v Balaclava (Part 2)

This game will go down as one of Celtic’s best, and most important wins in recent history, and hopefully the Bhoys will kick on and present the greatest fans on the planet with more surprises. I believe there’s more to come from this squad.

Eddie Murray

Joe Hart LOVED what he saw from Celtic tonight! 👏 #BBCFootball #UCL
– mercredi 18 septembre 2024

COMING SOON ON CELTIC STAR BOOKS…CELTIC IN THE THIRTIES, VOL 1&2 BY MATT CORR…

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