There was always going to be a but. Celtic’s display surprised and impressed their fans in the 1-1 draw with Midtjylland but a goalkeeping blunder will always undo the good work being done elsewhere.
Through four pre-season matches there were tentative signs that Vasilis Barkas might be able to recover from his debut season at Celtic.
He looked a bit more assured, was solid with the ball at his feet but in the 66th minute all the good work was undone with barely a flap at a free kick fired into the goalmouth.
Good performance from Celtic. Were the better team and should have won the game. McGregor captains display. Christie outstanding. Welsh very good and Murray did well when he came in. Abada lively. Celtic need a goalkeeper badly… nobody thought it would be easy!
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) July 20, 2021
It was a flashback to last season when every set-piece was a goal threat. A simple ball into the danger area causes panic. Barkas barely had a challenge for the ball, there was no pile on but his attempt at a clearance was half-hearted and Midtjylland were level.
Sutton watched it all from behind that goal, there were plenty of positives to take but if your goalkeeper is a weak link you will always be up against it as the hoops will discover next week in Denmark.