It’s not gone unnoticed either- Chris Sutton’s latest on Angeball

Soccer Football - Champions League - Group F - Shakhtar Donetsk v Celtic - Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland - September 14, 2022 Celtic's Reo Hatate celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

Chris Sutton has noticed a very different reaction to the norm over Celtic’s return to the Champions League.

Five years of gradual decline came to a stunning halt with the visit of Real Madrid to Glasgow last week with more than the usual comments about the fans and atmosphere being made.

Ange Postecoglou sent out a team to attack the champions of Europe, to go after them, to play through the midfield and attack down the flanks.

The plan was undone early in the second half, Luka Modric has been unpicking teams for a decade at this level but it was certainly a fresh approach from a Scottish club.

There was more of the same away to Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night, Celtic on the front foot, pressing, attacking. Using all of their forward options from the bench with no thought given to shutting up shop and settling for a point.

Next time, away to RB Leipzig on October 5 it could be different with Sutton explaining to Daily Record readers how Celtic are being viewed:

It’s not gone unnoticed either, right across the continent. Taking the game to Real Madrid? Bossing Shakhtar Donetsk?

Postecoglou is ripping up the perception of the Scottish game all over Europe. He’s doing to Scottish football what Pep Guardiola did for the English game. It’s a completely new approach that’s almost unheard of up here.

We’re used to seeing our teams going abroad and trying to shut up shop and hoping to hang on for results. Celtic went out an imposed their game on their rivals. It’s bold, but you know what? It just might work.

We’ve already seen enough to suggest Celtic can compete at this level. If you can create that many chances against Madrid and Shakhtar then you can carve out opportunities against anyone.

If Celtic can take a draw or victory from next month’s trip to Germany they will be in with a great chance of taking their Champions League campaign into the knock-out stages in the new year.

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