Celtic have finished bottom of their Champions League group after a heavy 5-1 defeat to holders Real Madrid on matchday six.
The Bhoys went out without winning a single game in their group, as did their arch-rivals Rangers, who failed to pick up a single point and had a minus 21 goal difference, becoming the worst team in Champions League history in doing so.
There were three penalties on the night, with Luka Modric and Rodrygo netting from the spot following two handball decisions before Josip Juranovic saw his effort from 12 yards saved.
Second-half goals from Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde took the game well beyond Celtic but the visitors again created a number of chances and substitute Jota scored with one of their 14 attempts at goal as he curled home a brilliant free-kick.
With RB Leipzig comfortably beating Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw, Real needed a win to clinch top spot in Group F against a Celtic side who had lost any hope of dropping into the Europa League when they were held by the Ukrainian side last week.
Joe Hart skippered Celtic in the absence of the injured Callum McGregor and vice-captain Cameron Carter-Vickers, whose place was taken by Carl Starfelt in the Swede’s first appearance since damaging his knee against Rangers two months ago.
The first half was a tale of penalty kicks and summed up Celtic’s European campaign.
The visitors had made a lively start before a reverse pass opened them up and Asensio’s mis-kicked shot hit the arm of Moritz Jenz. Referee Stephanie Frappart immediately pointed to the spot and Modric sent Hart the wrong way after the goalkeeper went to the Real playmaker’s Croatia team-mate Juranovic for advice.
The holders doubled their lead in the 21st minute after a VAR-assisted award.
Hart had saved well from Vinicius Junior before Rodrygo’s shot struck the arm of Matt O’Riley. The shot was taken from two yards away from O’Riley and was going well wide but Frappart gave a penalty and booked the Celtic midfielder after watching a replay.
Celtic’s 35th-minute penalty came after Liel Abada skinned Ferland Mendy before being chopped down. Juranovic had scored all five of his previous penalties for the Scottish champions but his powerful strike was a good height for Thibaut Courtois to parry.
The visitors had earlier squandered a number of decent opportunities. Kyogo Furuhashi hit Daizen Maeda’s low cross wide on the stretch when Abada was well-placed and unmarked behind…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…