Celtic’s u-19 side lost 2-1 to Barcelona yesterday in the opening match of the UEFA Youth League.
Barca’s youth side is envied and admired every bit as much as their full team but found it tough going at the Stadio Mini yesterday.
Five years ago a side including Tony Watt, Callum McGregor, Marcus Fraser and Joe Chalmers lost 5-1 to Barca in the Next Gen Series.
Jack Aitchison pulled a goal back for the young hoops with 18 minutes left to play with Tommy McIntyre disappointed that his side were unable to come up with an equaliser.
“I thought we had Barcelona rattled and you could see how pleased they were at the end to have held on for the win,” the Celtic coach told The Sun.
“They had a lot of possession, but overall they didn’t really hurt us. Apart from the early goal, and then the unfortunate mistake in the second half, I felt we contained them very well.
“We put a lot into it and we deserved something from the game. I was convinced there was a handball for a penalty.
“Barcelona are a world class team – but we stepped up to the mark.”
In their next match Celtic will host Manchester City at Cappielow with the match kicking off at 5pm, yesterday, before the rain came down City beat Borussia Monchengladbach 4-1 in the opening match of Group C.
CELTIC: Doohan, Ralston, McCart (Kerr 66), Wardrop, Hill, Crossan (Johnston 83), Ajer, Aitchison, Hendry, Miller, Archibald.