Griezmann leads the way as Atletico brush 10-man Celtic aside
ATLETICO MADRID 6 CELTIC 0
OVERWHELMED by a dominant Atletico Madrid side inspired by the outstanding Antoine Griezmann, Celtic - whose cause was not helped by the first-half dismissal of Daizen Maeda - suffered a miserable night in the Wanda Metropolitano that all but drew a line under their Champions League prospects.
Maeda was dismissed after the intervention of VAR led to an initial yellow card being upgraded to red midway through the first half.
Brendan Rodgers may consider that decision to be harsh, but there was no doubting the gap between the two sides.
Any hope that Celtic might stage a repeat of their impressive start in Glasgow two weeks previously quickly disappeared. An early attack led by Maeda offered promise and a crunching tackle by Alistair Johnston on Rodrigo Riquelme provided a statement of intent.
Early optimism though, was punctured when Griezmann put the home side ahead after just six minutes, helped in part by some unconvincing defending.
The failure to close down from a throw-in allowed Atletico to deliver another cross into the Celtic area that was met by an unconvincing clearing header from Callum McGregor that directed the ball towards Griezmann just outside the penalty area.
The France international was unmarked and had time to pick a low shot that took a deflection off Cameron Carter-Vickers as it flew past Joe Hart after just six minutes.
It was the worst possible start but to Celtic’s credit, they responded positively.
Luis Palma, scorer of Celtic’s second goal in the first meeting between these sides, forced Atletico keeper Jan Oblak into action with an angled shot.
And McGregor demonstrated impressive resolve with a timely block to deny Riquleme after the home side staged an
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