As the 2023-2024 season of the Champions League rolls on, Atletico Madrid on Thursday managed to pull off a lucky draw against Celtic after trailing behind in the first half of the Group E fixture. Trailing 2 goals to 1 in the first half, a 53rd-minute goal by Alvaro Morata helped the Atleticoz level the score and end with a draw, despite getting reduced to a 10-man squad towards the end of the match.
Playing in front of an enthusiastic home crowd and desperate to clinch their first group-stage victory, Celtic took an early lead within the first few minutes of the game when Kyogo Furuhashi scored the opening goal for the hosts, taking them 1-0 ahead with just 4 minutes on the clock.
The visitors got their first breakthrough when they got a penalty. Antoine Griezmann stepped in to take the spot and fired a powerful shot that luckily rebounded back to him and he was quick enough to net the ball into the nets just in time to get the equalizer for Atletico in the 25th minute.
However, the visitor’s celebrations were short-lived as Luis Palma hammered in the second goal for Celtic just three minutes later from a tight angle to bring the home side back in front. At 28 minutes, Celtic were leading 2-1 much to the delight of the home crowd.
Atletico seemingly began to bring the game under control in the second half, and the efforts finally paid off when Alvaro Morata sent in an excellent header into the nets in the 53rd minute to draw level once again. The Spanish visitors looked the most likely to win it right up until the moment when Rodrigo De Paul was slapped with a red card and sent off in the 82nd minute of the game. The visitors went under immense pressure thereon, but held their nerve and managed to scratch through the remaining minutes to convert the likely defeat into a deserving draw.
Celtic played with pace, purpose, and confidence in the first half and both goals came after excellent moves, but they could not keep up the tempo after the break. Despite having a strong first half, where they twice took the lead through Furuhashi and Palma, with the latter scoring shortly after Griezmann got the opening goal for Atletico Madrid, they seemingly fell apart throughout the second half after Morata’s equalizer.
Atletico Madrid, despite having only 46% of ball possession, made the most out of every opportunity they got. Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann were both on target for Atletico Madrid, with Griezmann getting a lucky spot to convert the rebound from his own penalty. However, the visitors could only walk away with a point from Celtic Park. Diego Simeone’s side are now placed at the third spot in the Group E rankings with 5 points from 3 matches, which includes two draws and a win.
Celtic and the fans would be disappointed with the outcome of the match, considering that they had it in their grasp till the first half of the match. The home side eventually had to settle with a 2-2 draw that could have been more. They are still winless in the tournament, sitting last in the group standings with just 1 point from their three games, having lost two out of them.
