Alistair Johnston enjoys unusual warm up for massive Champions League test

Tonight in Madrid Alistair Johnston will be in at the thick of the action.

Less than a year after signing for Celtic the defender faces up to Atletico on their home patch, a club that has been in the Champions League final twice in the last decade under the guidance of Diego Simeone.

The Atletico boss knows a thing or two about the dark arts, pushing the Laws of the Game to the limit but Johnston should be well capable of looking after himself.

As a kid and teenager growing up in Toronto the defender was a keen Ice Hockey player with the physical side of the game credited with influencing his soccer.

?? | Thank you to @CelticFC‘s ?? international @_a_johnston who carried out the puck drop ??? prior to Sunday’s home game ? the @cardiffdevils.

? @AlGooldPhoto pic.twitter.com/WWCItkUuQV

— Glasgow Clan ?? (@ClanIHC) November 6, 2023

After signing for Celtic last year The Sun reported Johnston saying:

I played hockey competitively in the winter and then soccer in the summer, and I was always known as a guy who loved to bodycheck and to hit guys.

I’ve always loved the feeling of just laying someone out, as crazy as that sounds, and I just brought that attitude into soccer. I love a good tackle to this day.

Nothing gets me more excited [than] if I get clattered into by an opponent or I clatter into him and it’s clean and the guy starts pushing me back. That’s something I just love

On Saturday Johnston was given a day off as Tony Ralston took over at right-back for the match against Ross County.

Tonight’s match is the toughest that the Canadian has faced since joining Celtic, taking a point off Atletico would keep alive hopes of European football after the new year.